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Image: Theo Moye |
The Company of Wolves at Riverside Valley Park, Exeter
29th-30th August 2014
Pulling in themes, narratives and characters from several stories
in The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter’s
collection of feminist reworkings of classic fairy tales, Burn the Curtain’s
new promenade production is an exhilarating romp through nature (for the
runners at least) that captures the essence of Carter’s darkly alluring original
while creating something satisfyingly new. And although it doesn’t always
deliver on the theatrical component, it is hugely enjoyable.
Covering a five-mile route, the runners are ‘hunters’, tasked
with tracking down the wolf; following a two-mile circuit, the walkers are
‘gatherers’, dispatched in pursuit of the missing bride. Over 2.5 hours, we
make our way through woods and across fields, plunging into valleys and
cresting hills, each group experiencing the narrative independently, encountering
characters and scenes at different stages but coming together at key points to
witness something in unison or to discuss what each has learned before moving
on. Running alongside us, the characters offer snippets of detail, and we ask
them, and each other, questions to tease out the plot, gradually discovering
what the Duke (Richard Feltham in arch pantomime villain mode) gets up to at night,
the truth about semi-feral Alice (Rebecca Savory), and the extent of Red
Riding Hood’s vulpine passions. It’s fun and participatory, and the
interactions never feel forced, and I’d forgotten just how stimulating it is to
the creative imagination to be running around outdoors.
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Richard Feltham as The Duke. Image: Theo Moye |
But the bigger scenes, the ones in which we are supposed to
get a proper hold of the narrative, are less successful theatrically. After
pelting full throttle up the side of a field, I wanted more from a visit to
Grandma’s house than simple exposition about what the Huntsman (Alexander Warn)
has seen through the window. And while it reveals why Red Riding Hood (aka
Ruby, a gloriously feisty Becky Baker in blood-red cape) is quite so keen to
get to the Wolf before anyone else (‘he’s a puppy with me,’ she says), and
allows for a confrontation that sets up the next scene, it doesn’t feel
rewarding enough after all the effort to get there, and falls rather flat
alongside the elemental aspects of the run – the encroaching darkness and
deepening shadows, the crow-calls across the sky.
The company are clearly skilled at people- and location-management,
and the environmental interactions are very effective – especially nice is
hearing Grandmother’s voice filtering through the trees as we scamper past;
characters appear form around blind corners to offer information and advice;
they appear in the distance, beckoning us to follow this path or that. They do
well to keep the Wolf, when he finally appears, at a distance; it’s more
effective to let the imagination fill in the blanks. At the time – and more so
in retrospect – I’d have liked more sound effects as we ran through the trees
(incidental music et al is provided by a large speaker and associated kit
pulled along on a parcel trolley by one of the production team, who out of
necessity sticks with the walkers). Although, having said that, once full
darkness had fallen and we were running through green lanes lit only by the
frantic bobbing of our headtorches, it’s doubtful that my heart could have
coped with actual howling coming from the impenetrable surroundings.
Despite the somewhat fractured nature of the whole – and a
twinge of the dreaded Fear of Missing Out – it becomes less important when the
general joyousness of being out in the open takes over. It’s as if the
narrative is suspended around us rather than being pressed upon us in a
traditional sense, and while there might not be quite enough to grab on to,
what is there we grab with both hands. While this adaptation has dispensed with
the sexual undertones of the original stories and Neil Jordan’s film, what is
still at the forefront is Ruby’s warrior spirit, her feminine strength and
empathy for the wolf – and it’s this combination that makes her ‘nobody’s
meat’.
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Peter the Priest (Jonty Depp) with the Nuns. Image: Theo Moye |
And boy is it empowering and invigorating to run through
nature in the dark, sucking in great lungfuls of fresh, dusky air; panting like
dogs, ankle-deep in damp grass and cow-pats. It’s a reminder of the allure of
the werewolf myth: the strength and physicality, the presence in the moment –
always more appealing to me than vampires, who skulk about looking pasty, cursed
with immortality. At one point I’m running up a hill so steep I fear I might
tip over backwards, but once at the top, the view is breathtaking, the lights
of the city twinkling below us. ‘There’s our village,’ says the Duke. ‘Home.’
And we all stare silently for a moment, perhaps contemplating what that means.
If the theatrical element is missing in some episodes, the
finale more than makes up for it, bringing in aspects of pagan ritual, mystery
and magic, and revealing just how astute and skilled the cast are at managing
the audience, leading to a denouement that is thrilling, scary and – if I’m
honest – completely envy-inducing. At the end of a journey that has demanded
many choices – which path to take, which characters to trust – we’ve got one
last decision to make. By then, hearts pumping from the chase, the pulsing
night around us illuminated by torches, there really is only one way to go. And
I defy anyone not to finish with a joyous howl at the moon.
The Company of Wolves will be reprised at Sharpham Estate, near Totnes, on 30th & 31st October – I can't think of a better way to spend Hallowe'en!
Produced by Burn the Curtain
Based on the stories by Angela Carter
Adapted by Burn the Curtain & Shiona Morton
Cast includes: Becky Baker, Richard
Feltham, Jonty Depp, Rebecca Savory,
Alexander Warn
Running time: 2 hrs 30 min
Reviewed for Exeunt
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