Possible publication of our Alchemical Adaptations

Here's an extract from our *finger's crossed* soon to be published chapter...

The Rabbit Hole

And then we came across The Hearing Trumpet, and felt this book was the just the right thing for us.

““There are times,” said Carmella, “when I am clairvoyant. When I saw the trumpet in the flea market I said to myself ‘That is just the right thing for Marian’. I had to buy it at once, I had a premonition.”” (Carrington 2005, p.12)

This strange, short novel seemed to synthesise all our material: abject ageing, cults and gurus, show camps and fakery… and a voyage inside.

After reading it with the other members of the company, we decided that, for the first time, we would have a go at a formal adaptation, and applied to The Carrington Estate for permission. This felt like firm footing, a good step forward for us as a theatre company. We chatted confidently about how Leonora’s work would be a perfect fit into our company’s vision and trajectory… little realising Leonora doesn’t fit into anyone else’s world, and, rather like Carroll’s Alice and her journey into Wonderland, it would be us, reforming ourselves again and again, to fit into hers.

““Well I’ll eat it,” said Alice, “and if it makes me larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me smaller I can creep under the door; so either way I’ll get into the garden, and I don’t care what happens!”” (Carroll 1993, p.23)

In fact, we often use an extant text (usually a classical play, but not always) as a base structure or source when constructing new work. Typically, after an initial reading and discussion, we respond imaginatively to the text, creating micro-performances pieced together out of images, threads and themes. We devise around the source material, write our own content inspired by this central work, compose music and choreography, aiming to create some kind of hybrid Frankenstein’s monster of a piece, which we hope, will end up taking on a life of its own without destroying the creators in the process.