In the last five years, North West based en masse theatre has won two prestigious Edinburgh Fringe First awards. At the start of a national tour, the Company’s new production, The Iceberg opened at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre.
Performed in the compact RET studio, The Iceberg is an adventure for children about an eccentric Victorian explorer’s search to find and paint the perfect iceberg.
Directed by Amy Leach, the production features a hard working cast of three, who between them play a variety of roles including the fictional explorer, Lord Smith, Queen Victoria and a ten year old stowaway.
Played against a large map of the British Empire, The Iceberg is performed with a small number of props. Settings ranging from the Houses of Parliament to the deck of the expedition schooner The Wordsworth are imaginatively created on a small set. As The Wordsworth sets sail, two gigantic masts impressively emerge from small suitcases.
As well as being the story of Lord Smith and his crew’s seven month journey to the Antarctic Belt, the play also touches on the darker themes of Victorian child labour and the slave trade. Linking the expedition narrative and the examination of Victorian morals is the story of Isobel, the young stowaway.
With echoes of Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Little Match Girl, Isobel is an orphan who believes that she is made of ice. Isobel’s discovery on board ship and her encounter with Lord Smith lie at the heart of the play. On canvas, the pair capture the perfect iceberg and although the final denouement is somewhat farfetched, the tender relationship that develops between the two characters is both intriguing and moving.
Playing at over 80 minutes, without an interval, the production written for children aged 8 plus is too long and could do with cutting. There is much to commend about this production however, notably Leach’s deft direction and Tim Samuels star turn as various members of The Wordsworth’s crew.
The Iceberg is touring to Kendal, Woodford, Canterbury, Bath, Kirkcaldy, Inverness, Liverpool, Chigwell, Hemel Hempstead and Coventry.
