'I know a story, told right from the heart...'
'Fool's Gold' is a new student written work that embraces many creative areas such as masks, physical theatre and original composition. It is a collaborative project that has been growing and developing at the University of Warwick since late 2010, and will be performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 14th-20th August this year.
Seen through a little girl's eyes, the narrative utilises the fairy tale genre to portray a powerful story which explores the trials and tribulations suffered by people waiting on the organ donation list and the anxious suffering that their families endure alongside them. Grim hospital walls are replaced by an enchanted forest that still bears a resemblance to its medical equipment counterparts, and our main protagonist utilises this environment to explore her relationship with her brother and her imagination.
One of the strongest elements of our production is visual flair. We have collaborated with a London design team based at University of the Arts London who are working in conjunction with award winning student designers based at the University of Warwick, to produce visually stunning masks and costumes including witches, monsters and dead statues.
Our cast members, who have experience performing at Warwick Arts Centre, NSDF and with the National Youth Theatre have been selected from a wide range of subject disciplines; from Theatre, History and Philosophy to Maths and Biological Sciences. This has allowed each member of the company to bring individual expertise into the rehearsal space, thus producing incredibly authentic, intelligent and thought provoking performances that can be juxtaposed alongside our strong visual and musical elements and doing this fantastic piece of writing the justice that it deserves.
After three very successful original performances at the University of Warwick to full audiences, the 'Fool's Gold' script, which recieved a first class grade in the module that it was submitted for, has been re-written and the production has been re-imagined as a result of audience feedback and things learnt over the original rehearsal process through cross-subject collaboration.
We are well on our way to finalising our plans for performing at the Fringe and having held two successful fundraisers and received generous audience donations. We now require a final cash injection into this exciting project in order to help with final venue payments and design elements which will allow us to produce a production that reflects the standard of our company, the time and effort that we have dedicated to the project and the wealth of the project itself.
