For every production that the Young Vic programmes in its main space, the Taking Part department creates another in response; exploring some of the ideas in the main production and in which the local community can take part. Production manager Anthony Newton worked with Taking Part technician Nick Slater on Base Camp and The Sound of Yellow, which were based on The Valley of Astonishment, a play which focuses on the phenomenon of synaesthesia: where people can experience things - words, thoughts or even music - as sensory stimulations or as colours.
Nick Slater explains, "For Base Camp, which was with the special educational needs young people, we used an eight square metre white tent set up in one of our small theatres, and illuminated it all the way round with the Selador Classic battens hired from Sparks Theatrical, controlled from our ETC Ion lighting desk. The fixtures were amazing in flooding the space with colour, while not adding to the temperature, keeping the performers cool."
The show, which theatre company Parrot in the Tank performed with young people saw everyone going on a 'camping expedition to the Arctic', which entailed stunning aurora borealis (northern lights) visual effects, as well as bright blues for the skies.
There were several scenarios set up, such as when a tent was given personality with a beady-eye torch light, or balloons appeared from smaller tents and the young people had to keep them from touching the floor. During these parts of the play, the environment changed through a range of different colours, assisting the narrative and creating atmosphere.
For the second show, The Sound of Yellow - which was made with people recovering from addictions - the tent was used as "a sort of lightbox," explains Newton. "It was more clinical - think of a forensic tent at a crime scene." The story was of an aeroplane journey, with the Selador fixtures used to create the lighting one might see on a journey.
Slater comments, "Because of how versatile the fixtures are, they really helped the performers to interact with the pieces. There was one section of Base Camp where we got the young people to lie down on the floor and played them certain lights and colours, and asked the children what it reminded them of."
Parrot in the Tank are Anisha Fields, Joe Connor, Eva Liparova, Sam Bailey, Sam Smith (lighting designer), Tom Gibbons, Jay Mobbs-Beal, Max Perryment and Gabriella Gerdelics. For The Sound of Yellow, the lighting designer was Ciarán Cunningham, director Matthew Xia, and sound design was by Giles Thomas.
(Jim Evans)
