“…a wonderful show, and admirably abstract for a work intended for younger audiences.” Bridie Gane’s ‘The Last Forecast’ for Catherine Wheels, is children’s theatre of a very high order.
📍 Artspace – Lyra – Edinburgh
📅 July 1st 2023
🕖 Running time: 40 minutes
🗣️ Presented by: Catherine Wheels
🎬 Created by: Bridie Gane
🎂 6+
🎭 Wheelchair Accessible Venue, Wheelchair Accessible Toilets
The Last Forecast, the first dance production from Edinburgh treasures Catherine Wheels theatre company, opened this July 1st to rapturous applause from a packed audience at Lyra, in Craigmillar. A two hander, the show follows the adventures of Gail (Bea Calzado Bidault), an exhhuberant gecko, and the stranger (James Southward) who crashes in upon her island idyll. The two must learn to live alongside each other, whilst simultaneously dealing with the de-homing threat of ever rising sea levels.
It’s a wonderful show, and admirably abstract for a work intended for younger audiences. Completely eschewing palm trees or sand, designer Alisa Kalyanova literally wraps the entire stage in patterned wallpaper. From walls, to table, chair, stool, and floor, it’s an exercise in paper and paste one imagines the crew are in no rush to repeat! The genius lies in clothing Gail in the same pattern, making her camouflage a physical reality, and a rich source of both drama and comedy.
The island itself is created by the two brilliant performers, a radio, and a few simple sound effects. It’s an audacious gambit from creator Bridie Gane who sets her ambitions high from an outstanding Chaplin-esque opening scene, to a Fourth wall bursting finale. Not only are Calzado Bidault & Southward physically agile, but – more importantly – both demonstrate a fine feel for visual theatre. Neither utters a single word, their communication an erudite product of body language and expression; bravo.
Which isn’t to say ‘The Last Forecast’ is entirely wordless, for in truth the stage features a third character: the radio. It could so easily fall flat as a gimmick, could be overused as a narrative crutch, but such is not the case. Instead it provides an in-world explanation for the show’ soundtrack, and fulfills a place reminiscent of a Shakespearian fool. For whilst the announcer’s clipped, Radio 4 tones, muster plenty of laughs with progressively more psychadelic versions of the Shipping Forecast, it also warns of trouble ahead.
However, before Noah’s peril comes calling, the two have time to first find, and then befriend one another. Exhuberant dance, elegant tumbles, and well-executed prat-falls make this a show in constant, but not frenetic motion. Music is a driving force in ‘The Last Forecast’, a toe-tapping weaving of genres which sets an ever-evolving mood.
The flood when it comes shifts the drama into a slightly more serious mode, and though careful not to lose sight of the show’s joyful heart, might benefit from a weightier sense of threat. Ultimately though, the waters usher in a finale to suprise child and grown-up alike, and as with so many of the best stories, finds an ending in its beginning.
The show will undertake a tour of Scottish schools this Autumn, bringing fantastic physical theatre to willingly captive crowds of learners. The QR hopes and expects it will also find a welcome in public venues, and encourages you, dear reader, to see if it you can.
The Last Forecast is a Catherine Wheels production.
By
