Get yourself into the spirit for Fairytales Fables & Other Assorted Nonsense next week with an interview with directors Cal Moffat and Plum Grosvenor-Stevenson as they give a deeper look into the show.
Could tell us a bit about yourselves and the work you do with Assembleth Theatre?
“We are both professional artists living in the South West. Plum is primarily an arts manager and producer, running a venue in Cornwall and working as a producer across the UK and Cal is a theatre-maker. We are both really interested in telling exciting stories, new writing and working with young people, which is something we get to do a lot with Assembleth Theatre.” – Cal & Plum
“Assembleth grew out of another project we were both a part of and is an opportunity for us to create theatre that first and foremost makes people laugh and tour it across the UK. We have been lucky enough to work with some fantastic venue partners on our current show, and a brilliant range of creatives from the South West.” – Cal & Plum
What was the inspiration behind the creation of the show?
“We were leading some sessions with young people in Plymouth with a game called ‘fairy tale courtroom’ where we would put fairy tale characters on trial for crimes, for example Goldilocks accused of breaking and entering and porridge theft and then have the young people plan out a defence and prosecution in two teams, as witness as lawyers (our personal favourite witness being a forensic porridge analyst in the case of Goldilocks). We had great fun with what the young people were doing and wanted to explore if this could be the basis for a new show.” – Cal & Plum
“We approached the Barbican Theatre Plymouth to see if we could run some sessions with their 15–18-year-olds to see if we could develop a show for this age range and they supported us and gave us a class for 6 months to plan out how we could develop the new show. It has moved away from the original premise during those 6 months R&D but we now have a incredibly fun and silly show with a host of fairy tale characters and still one memorable courtroom scene!” – Cal & Plum
What type of experience can audiences look forward to when they see the show?
“We take inspiration from lots of different styles of comedy and try to work different aspects into all our shows, with Fairytales, Fables & Other Assorted Nonsense being no different. The audience will be kept on their toes with changes of pace, ridiculous fights, untimely deaths and 26 different parts played by only three actors. Susan, the reluctant hero, finds herself in a world of wonder and fantasy. What challenges and adventures does she face, and how does she navigate through the magical world to fight for the rights of beloved fairy tale characters?” – Cal & Plum
“Susan faces everything you could possibly expect to navigate in a world of fairy tales, from terrifying talking wolves, three bears who want nothing but to live in peace from human interference and three very rebellious little pigs, who want nothing but to start a revolution against the evil dictatorship of Red Riding Hood. All the classic stuff. Susan approaches this the way we think most people would, utter bemusement at first, followed by fear, followed by an overwhelming sense of exploration and love for the world she has found herself in.” – Cal & Plum
What adventures and challenges will reluctant hero of the story Susan face?
“Susan faces everything you could possibly expect to navigate in a world of fairy tales, from terrifying talking wolves, three bears who want nothing but to live in peace from human interference and three very rebellious little pigs, who want nothing but to start a revolution against the evil dictatorship of Red Riding Hood. All the classic stuff. Susan approaches this the way we think most people would, utter bemusement at first, followed by fear, followed by an overwhelming sense of exploration and love for the world she has found herself in.” – Cal & Plum
Could you tell us the process you went through when putting your own spin on such familiar fairy tale characters?
“We use some of the characteristics of the characters in the original fairy tales (or sometimes their Disney versions) and add in some brand-new traits to create new versions of them. They are at the same time both familiar and new, meaning we had a lot to play with in the creation process. This gave us a lot of freedom to play around with the stories that everyone knows and create new versions of them, with some of the more ridiculous elements enhanced and focussed in on to create a comedic world full of fairy tales.” – Cal & Plum
Catch Fairytales, Fables & Other assorted Nonsense at Taunton Brewhouse February 18th. Book here
