Mermaid (Tour)

Mermaid is a play about the desire to fit in, set deep beneath the sea. This is the latest work by Shared Experience, the award-winning company specialising in physical theatre; it is wonderfully atmospheric and they craft a rich visual feast.

The stage, mirrored on all sides, gives the illusion of being in a dirty fish tank. A droning chorus, shimmering lights, and a constant swaying of actors, dancing and rolling with the waves, work brilliantly together to capture the feeling of deep-sea peace – shattered by the world above the surface.

The rupture of childhood fantasy, exasperated by modern technology and social media, is the play’s focus. Polly Teale, the creative captain of this ship in both writing and directing, has updated Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale, The Little Mermaid, to explore personal inadequacy in the 21st century. Teale uses the fairy tale narrative, dominated by Disney’s own adaptation, to explore our collective fantasies about physical and social aspirations. The Little Mermaid, who trades her tongue for human form, marries a prince who has recently returned from Afghanistan, a sort of shell-shocked Harry. Both are troubled by the stark realities they discover in living out their dreams and long to return to the innocence of the past.

The contemporary setting is immediately felt; Miley Cyrus wails in the opening scene as thirteen year-old protagonist Blue (Natalie Gavin) is tormented over Facetime for not getting an invite to the cool kid’s party and not having ‘tits’. She escapes the real world by writing about mermaids, becoming the narrator of the play we see before us. Gavin blends childish enthusiasm and moody pubescent confusion to give a strong performance which pulls the show along. However the questions posed so effectively at the start get slightly forgotten about by the end. It’s not really made clear how Blue is supposed to handle the jabber of cultural pressure that surrounds her. We, like her, never return from the fantasy.

This doesn’t detract from the overall experience, the highlight of which is the physicality of the actors. This story is as much visual as it is verbal, and Shared Experience continue to blend motion and movement powerfully with text. Special mentions need to go to the three mermaid siblings (Miranda Mac Letten, Ritu Arya, Amaka Okafor) who ‘swim’ across the stage with ease. They maintain the underwater illusion well, which could easily have looked a little silly. It was unfortunate that Little Mermaid Sarah Twomey injured herself the previous night and was unable to act out the rippling movements. Her voice is enchanting however and backed by the onstage chorus she layers the performance with hypnotic tones.

The play isn’t trying to amaze you with its message. We all know the story but the magic is in how they tell that story. Shared Experience are a tight team and witnessing them work in such synchronicity is the real reason to go.

Mermaid runs at Nottingham Playhouse until 21 March 2015, before touring to Leeds, Mold, Richmond, Cardiff, Southampton, Edinburgh, Watford and Oxford