H aroun and the S ea of S tories
Salman Rushdie’s powerful storytelling
is at the heart of this Year 9 play.
The story follows Haroun, son of the great storyteller
Rashid, who goes on an adventure to help restore his
father’s power of storytelling.
The production used an ensemble approach, with cast
changing in and out of roles between scenes (indeed
even between nights with the dual casting adopted
by director Gavin Henry) thus reflecting the fluidity
of the stories themselves. Four students undertook
the role of Haroun, taking over from one another
for different sections of the story, but all of them
remaining on stage for nearly the whole evening. The
complicité between Clemmie Mayhew, Max Joseph,
Issy Neill and Emilia Wood was thrilling.
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PERFORMING ARTS
Russell Dean’s costume and puppetry creations
brought a vibrant and bold style to the production,
including a particularly impressive full-body hoopoe
bird costume, complete with rollerskates. Puppetry
was well employed, allowing the storytellers to show
us how we could fly on a bird’s back to a magical city,
or that fish have an awful lot to say for themselves.
Haroun and the Sea of Stories was a delightful and
magical evening of storytelling, told with energy,
vibrancy and a genuine childlike enjoyment of
playfulness.
Karl Niklas