Something Very Far Away
Entering the Unicorn Theatre’s Clore Studio, you’re greeted by a bewildering array of techie gadgets spread across the stage. There are lights, tripods, cameras, projectors, screens and a mixing desk, but no room for actors… a pretty big clue that you’re about to witness something out of the ordinary.
The show is, in fact, completely extraordinary. The action is animated before your eyes by five performers through the use of puppetry, shadow puppetry, projection, lights and live and recorded music. It can be said with some certainty that this is a theatrical experience unlike any you will have had before.
The story, written by Mark Arends, is simple. An astronomer loses his wife in a tragic circus accident and, remembering that “the deeper into space you look, the further into the past you see”, he decides to build a spaceship to see if the same is true in reverse. If he travels away from Earth and looks back, will he be able to see his wife again?
Matthew Robins’ design and animation is exceptional. The techniques in use are constantly changing but seamlessly mixed, providing angles and effects of which any animated film-maker would be proud. The possibility to glance away from the action on the main screen to watch the creative processes involved reminds us, however, that this is all being done live. I defy any audience member not to remain entranced for the show’s (all-too-short) 35-minute duration.
Declan Randall’s lighting design perfectly sets the mood for each scene, with one particularly magical sequence that seems to envelop the audience as the spaceship makes its journey through the universe.
This is a beautiful show, telling an uncomplicated but moving story about the lengths to which people will go to remember their lost loved ones. Told in an endlessly inventive way that will enthral adults and children, it is quite simply captivating.
