PROMMERSIVE IN BRIGHTON Part 3 - Digging for Shakespeare

Bright and early the coach from the centre set off into the outskirts of Brighton. To some allotments.

Digging For Shakespeare by Mark Rees aided and abetted by a lecturer, a superb actor/dancer/presence, a youth chorus and a huge valley of allotments and allotmenteers. Oh and the words of Shakespeare.

Mark in his tweed suit with orange tie, orange garters and orange megaphone (well.. more mustard but it was a good attempt) was our guide and focus. The show wove autobiography, local history, Shakespeare on nature, and really wierdy-wierd installation come dance-chant plus knitting and gifts. After a walk through the woods and a slide show in a machine shed, we were set free to roam. No headphones. No challenge. Just a rough map and an hour to wander in the hot May sun.

 

We clambered about in the patchwork valley chatted to the allotment holders and giggled at the knitted characters from Shakespeare presented in greenhouses and beside water butts. At first sight Digging for Shakespeare had no profound message - but the spirit of horticulture seemed to have been dug into the show. There was a relaxed generosity within the performance that seemed to match the burgeoning growth of the fruit and veg around us. At each orange flagged allotment we were invited to take a post card with a gardening tip. At the end we got a mug of tea and a Tunnocks tea cake.

I socialised with gardeners, fellow audience members and with Mark, our guide. My eyes were bathed with the relaxing greens of spring and my skin was warmed by the Sussex sun. I was concious of experiencing deep joy.

Writing now I realise that I very nearly mistook all this for the context - that initially I thought of the nature as a backdrop to the narrative. Reflecting some two weeks later I believe that our physical interaction with the allotment and the elements was the content.

Perhaps the humour and thoughtful words that went before were just preparing us for therapy.
Performance as preparation, then the setting as the maincourse - the content.

Make the audience chuckle, make them jump, make them think, then confine them in a dark shed listening to deep thoughts before setting them loose under the bright sky to commune with nature.

I wonder if that was the plot.