Skellig
nottingham Playhouse (March 22nd - April 7th 2019)
Director Lisa Blair
Writer David Almond
Designer Frankie Bradshaw
Lighting Design Alexandra Stafford
Sound Design/Composer Tom Attwood
Puppetry Design Matthew Forbes
Accent Coach Elspeth Morrison
Reviews
The Times ****
The Stage ****
East Midlands Theatre ****
cast
sam swan
simon darwen
kate okello
edward harrison
lauren Waine
tanya vital
tina harris
gillian kirkpatrick
luke grant
philip correia
“The narrators are always on stage, sometimes silent observers, sometimes energetic presences. They drop down from their vantage points to become tormentors in the school yard or comic crones in the hospital...
Unlike in a pantomime, where flying is primarily a source of fun, here it has a deeply mystical dimension. When Skellig (Edward Harrison) unfurls his great wings, he visibly evolves from the hunched, hoarse and angry figure that Michael first encounters. ”
“Skellig himself appears in the darkest corner of the garage, a filthy, half-dead creature, grouchy and fearful, suffering from arthritic pain... His full bird-like nature is revealed slowly and provides a real moment of magic – not flashy, not explosive, just a soaring feeling of being spiritually and literally uplifted.”
“They are part of an ensemble whose synchronised movement focuses the energy on stage, like a pulsing drum. Their narration is dizzying after a while, but it keeps good pace with a child’s patience.”
“The combined skills demanded by a production such as this defy individuality. Choric narrative; doubling, tripling, quadrupling of parts; adults playing children; the conjuring of ‘impossible’ magic within the’ real’ confines of a live theatre: this is what the phrase ‘ensemble work’ means. And when it works, as it does, here, it cannot be bettered.”
“Pallid skin and arthritically clawed hands tellingly portray Edward Harrison’s Skellig as somewhere been alive and dead, barely able to move he gutturally groans for Michael ”