Written and performed by 24-year old Toby Thompson, this highly original show is based upon Faldum, a fairy tale by Hermann Hesse. A striking feature of Hesse’s story is its ambiguity. It has many of the traditional ingredients of a fairy tale, including a wandering stranger, the granting of wishes, and magical transformations, but thematically and morally it is far more elusive than most children’s stories. Thompson has not shied away from the puzzling nature of the original, but invites those in his audience, young or old, to arrive at their own interpretations.
We first see our story-teller noodling away rather expertly at a piano keyboard, accompanying some cool jazz that appears to be coming from a record-player nearby. He is surrounded by a number of wooden model houses of different sizes, each with a single window and a steeply pointed roof. They are like minimalist dolls houses, but later we discover that there is more to them than first meets the eye. The music stops, and he introduces himself in a self-deprecatory fashion, breaking the ice with a quirky challenge to the audience: ‘Can you make a noise to sum up the meaning of life?’ Last night’s enthusiastic response indicated that the meaning of life is ‘Whoo-hoo!’
With loose-limbed enthusiasm he takes us into the town of Faldum, and back to a time before television, before record-players and before Facebook – ‘They just had faces…. and books.’ Thompson is a poet, and his narration is enlivened with rhyme and rhythm, alliteration and allusion. As he speaks the set begins to reveal some of its secrets; windows shine, and the little town of Faldum comes alive. Designer Anisha Fields has created something very special here and the effect is magical.
I Wish I Was A Mountain is targeted at an audience aged 7+, and its 45-minute duration seems just right. I have very few reservations about this very engaging show, though I did wonder if the occasional musical interludes were too disruptive of the narrative flow. Also, there is no doubt that the conclusion will leave some younger members of the audience baffled, but as Toby Thompson points out, the adult world is often utterly baffling: ‘Children are the best audience for something that’s a bit confusing, because they’re well in the habit of trying to make sense of absolute chaos.’
Created by the egg incubator, co-produced by the egg and Travelling Light Theatre and directed by Lee Lyford, I Wish I Was A Mountain has had a very 21st Century type of gestation, involving a number of co-commissioners and crowdfunding. All those involved should be proud. Enchanting!
★★★★☆ Mike Whitton 22nd September 2018
