Why is it that we can’t seem to do a show without some piece of elaborate expenditure? In Hamletmachine we set our hearts on having a huge hour glass which had to be especially blown for the occasion. For our current production Norway.Today, we have decided that part of the video-scenography is to be filmed on location at the fjords. There is one section we are especially keen on creating – the bit were the stage direction states: Julie falls off a cliff and dangles over the abyss. Having to organise all this from Sidcup with a shoestring budget, doing all this ourselves was (unfortunately) not an option – so we sought out some random message boards and dropped a hopeful add aimed at Norwegian cliff-divers into the digital ocean… And lo and behold, we got a prompt answer from a bloke who reckoned ‘what you want is a helicopter job’ and offering his services in this field. Since helicopter jobs are still way out of our financial paradigm at this humble stage in our careers, we requested whether a ‘handheld, camcorder-type job’ wouldn’t be equally feasible. To which the (quite reasonable) response was ‘yes – but the falling of the cliff bit might be a bit difficult.’ (We’ve had an actor cycling into a tree and off a peer before – but that’s different. That was Sammy Metcalfe. He will do anything.) Anyway, our man on location is now off on a tentative cliff balancing expedition, and we’ll see what kind of footage we get – we’re excited!
Our exploration of Igor Bauersima’s Norway.Today has been made possible by the Young Angels Theatremakers Awards, initiated by Company of Angels and The Junction in Cambridge.
- Philip