A gentle, immersive storytelling experience that glows rather than sparksRating
Good
Punchdrunk has a reputation for powerful immersive theatre on a huge scale. What many people don’t realise is that they also have another string to their bow – Punchdrunk Enrichment, which creates immersive experiences for families, schools, and communities. This year, children ages 7-11 are invited to attend their festive production, Fireside Tales.
The venue itself is off the beaten track, in a land of Wembley warehouses. Outside is a shop window that’s filled with objects and curiosities of all sorts. It’s either a world of wonder or your nan’s cupboards, depending on how you want to view it. Inside the foyer, the space is laid out with roomscapes, again filled with items, and some of the Enrichment performers warmly greet the audience, explaining that objects here are related to the event to come. We’re then led next door, where a child knocks on the door to gain entrance, and we enter with anticipation.
This room is again packed from floor to ceiling with items that the children can briefly investigate. Our hosts, Cosima (Rebecca Clark) and Ali (Amari Harris), tell us we are in a storytelling shop, and the stories all have types based on elements: air, earth, water, and fire. Children are encouraged to get actively involved: some speak with the performers; one individual talks about an object, thinking what element it might belong to; another takes a phone call. Most stand and listen.
The call reveals a new story is arriving, and it is a fire story, announced by red lights switching on and shifting across the room and back, with some theatrical music and ambient light change. It’s a nice idea, if not entirely dramatically thrilling. We then move into a larger space, a garden, where we have to encourage the fire story to join us at a fire pit. It’s nicely designed to suggest the courtyard of a community space, feeding into the themes of the subsequent storytelling.
The performers are enthusiastic and friendly, encouraging the attendees to respond to a variety of stories they share as we sit around the fire on logs. In a football tale, we have to cheer and chant. There’s some imagining what different elements’ stories might be like, and even a bit of drawing to consider what ‘home’ means. The figure of the fire itself becomes embodied in objects – lights, lamps, and candles, but it lacks character and focus, so the storytellers are basically talking to a bulb or thin air much of the time.
It’s all very nice, but the children could be given more agency, and there’s so much potential to do more, tying the stories together. Those drawings could be combined to form something relevant to the tale, or ‘fed’ to the fire to give it strength through storytelling. Shadow work is used to supplement the tales, but it’s very static, and it would be so easy to use active shadow puppetry instead. More sensory input would add depth, such as objects to handle that might crackle to make the sound of fire, or a blast of warm air! Or even a glowstick to go home with might be fun. What we do get is a postcard to write a story on and send somewhere, which may or may not happen, what with the price of stamps.
Given the power of Punchdrunk, it feels like they’ve played it safe on this occasion. Fireside Tales is a pleasant way to spend an hour, and it does immerse children in a space where they can embrace imagination; it could just do more. It’s a show that glows rather than sparks.
Writer and Director: Steve McCourt
Designer: Mydd Pharo
Costume Designer: Melissa Simon-Hartman
Lighting Designer: Sarah Readman
Sound Designer: Dominic Kennedy
Creative Producer: Joanne Skapinker
Senior Producer: Bethany Haynes
Fireside Tales is aimed at ages 7–11 years and runs at
Punchdrunk Enrichment Stores, Wembley, until Sunday 4 January.
