Rat

What do you get when you bring together a group of musicians, theatre makers, and visual artists to reimagine the story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin? RAT, tells the story of The Pied Piper through live music and shadow puppetry. The show has been developed over two years, in which Louis has brought together the multi-faceted band, The Rat Affair. RAT is their debut project and questions the nature of contemporary storytelling by removing speech from the narrative, presenting a powerful spectacle of light and sound. Mike Shepherd of Kneehigh Theatre describes the show as having “?ercely beautiful imagery with extraordinary music and a biting political comment”. The music from the show plays with the traditions of folklore and storytelling. It shifts between sensationally boisterous Eastern European folk, and sparse re?ective piano works. The songs are mostly focused around the hypnotic tenor sounds of saxophonist Joe Carey, luring the audience (and the rats) throughout the show. His conjuring sounds are underpinned by the band who recently performed a preview show in early January to a packed out crowd at the Tolmen Centre in Constantine, Cornwall. Accompanying the music is the beautiful imagery and shadow puppetry designed by Ailsa Dalling. Her imagery compliments the music brilliantly, telling the tale of a curious man who offers to rid a corrupt town in crisis by driving its vermin infestation away. RAT brings together a host of outstanding artists working in theatre and performance, promising to be one of the most exciting experiences of 2020.