Escape Was on Everyone’s Mind was at The Alma Tavern Theatre yesterday as Otherstory presented The Tale of Jack Sheppard, notorious jail breaker of eighteenth century London.
Lord Byron is often credited as the first modern celebrity, but perhaps that title would be better bestowed unto the elusive and daring thief Sheppard whose numerous escapes from prison won the hearts of London and made him a figure of legend.
Otherstory, a Bristol based puppetry collective, bring the miscreant to life through the medium of puppetry, music and storytelling, using some fantastically creative and beautiful puppets made and operated by three members of the collective – Emma Byron, Sarah Green, and Trevor Houghton. Paul Walker provides the piece with a soundtrack, playing a combination of recorded and live music whilst offering small sections of narration.
As the audience enter, we are handed some cutout pint glasses and a few balls of scrunched-up paper with which to pelt the judge later in the show. This level of engagement and interaction was a fun idea to involve the audience in recreating the unruly mob of the ordinary Londoners, but it was not deployed with much confidence. We were invited to singalong with the cast and swing our pint glasses as they timidly led us in song and there was a little confusion over when exactly we were supposed to throw our paper.
There was a decidedly scratch feel to the piece, despite the very brilliant and professional puppets. The collective talked amongst themselves before the show began and then introduced themselves by name. ‘We’re going to transport you back to seventeenth century London,’ Trevor told us… ‘Shortly.’
Pace was the essential ingredient in the puppet show and somewhat lacking at times as the collective moved through the story of Sheppard’s exploits. The show needed pace to keep the audience engaged, to keep them focused on the small 2D characters as they were manipulated around the space, but it often felt a little slow, particularly in changing from one scene to the next, sometimes with long sections of silence, as the audience watched the ensemble put the figures in place.
The puppets had a very vivid, almost Monty Pythonesque style. Inspired by the engravings of William Hogarth, they were black and white figures with 2D faces and small, ornate and colourful costumes, moving through dim London streets and scaled-down houses. The puppets were very pretty and clever in design, the collective often employing pop-out sections of buildings and tiny props with good humour and precise movement. Accompanied by a medley of original and beautiful folk music, the show had an endearing quality. But something about it felt a little underwhelming and almost untheatrical. The puppets were often shown with speech bubbles, but when the company did offer their own voices they were a little quiet, unconvincing and shy.
Sheppard – who was never presented with a voice – lost out the most. We never really got a sense of his character, of the charming, dangerous and fascinating figure he must have been, which seems a shame. The infamous figure has previously been characterized by artists such as Daniel Defoe and John Gay, but this production offered little in terms of a news pin or insight into the life of the wellrecorded and oft-dramatised criminal.
In short, Otherstory’s show, though sometimes engaging and charming, felt a little more like an old episode of Blue Peter than a piece of theatre. The performance could use a serious injection of dramatic verve, as well as a more structured retelling of the story. Still, it’s wonderful to see a company and an audience engaging with the tale of one of London’s infamous legends. ★★★☆☆ Chris White 04/05/15
