Four Branches
A collection of spellbinding multi-sensory pieces inspired by the Welsh Mabinogi. Part of a research and development period for a new opera.
About the work
A young woman and a young man narrate the story. A mythical coming of age piece that sits at the heart of a rural Welsh family, living in that liminal place between the edge of the sea and the edge of reality.
Sharing Four Corners with the public was a culmination of a period of R&D where we explored different sensory methods of delivery in the College for the Blind which was between residents and therefore very big, very empty and very available for experimentation of this nature! Audiences in Hay and Ledbury festivals sampled the work for us with and without headsets, static and moving, blindfold and seeing, then fed back on the differences between our methods of delivery.
“I’d love to see the final result, what a haunting piece.”
How we made it
We spent a lot of time on our hands and knees, listening to trumpets being played at the far end of heating pipes, projecting into cupboards, emptying glow sticks into cling film on speaker heads and whispering down cardboard tubes etc before the text and music were written and the performers brought in to record the sound track.
This lengthy process narrowed down to four sections that would be delivered through different means to our test bed audiences. The results from this period continue to inform Feral’s work, years on.
Performances
Experimental performances took place at both Hay Festival in May and Ledbury Poetry Festival in July 2013.
“Disturbing, fascinating and beautiful all in one sitting.”
Credits
Writer – Megan Barker
Director – Estelle van Warmelo
Music – Richard Reed Parry
Sound Design – Anthony Murphy
Cast – Anja Conti and Dylan Williams
Production Manager – Alison Palmer
Stage Manager – Rachel Duthie
Technician – Ben Priest