what did you do at work today?

hawksbill turtle
dogs
sea horses
olympic dolphins
star fish
ants
greek fishermen
a court room

from: Gerald Durrell's Birds, Beasts and Relatives (published 1969)

umbrellas

Photo: Gregory Guida

Changing the dynamic for each story has been a great challenge. For Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons (published 1977) we have discovered umbrellas - or perhaps they discovered us.

The umbrellas have lent themselves exquisitely to creating Gerry’s Mauritius pink pigeons and golden bats.

It has been quite important to use the essential, physical, behavoural trait of each animal and then re-create that either in the body and / or with another physical element.

What we don’t ever want to do is somehow be fraudulent in the use of either and thus inadvertently undermine what it is that we are trying to achieve.

The balance that is needed between: the conservational, documentary approach and performance style; the more physical, entertaining, visually dynamic and absorbing animal behaviour; and the often eccentric narrative of Gerald Durrell - is acute in all our creative minds.

the fosa

Photo: kisspanda

Adapted extract from Gerald Durrell's 'The Aye-aye and I' (1992):

A flash of russet red caught my eye in the bushes some six feet in front of the vehicle and, suddenly, from out of the undergrowth, silent as a cloud shadow, came a Fosa which walked languidly to the middle of the road and sat down and remained immobile for a minute or two.

There was no mistaking that slouching, indolent, cat-like gait. We are observing the largest carnivorous mammal in Madagascar, looking very much like a young puma and with a puma’s walk.

It was relaxed and perfectly at ease: no furtive glances over its shoulder, no ear twitches, no tensing of the muscles.

The Fosa had a long athletic-looking body and an inordinately long tail.

Its head seemed small in comparison to the rest of its body and reminded me of the ancient Egyptian carvings of sacred cats.

Its fur looked dense and sleek and was a beautiful, warm honey-gingerbread colour.

It was, after all, carrying the banner of the lion, the tiger and the jaguar.

It sat, silent and unmoving for a few minutes, and then commenced to groom itself thoroughly as a cat does, lifting its plump paws to be licked and have the odd burr nibbled away, stretching its hind legs out to receive a wash, curry-combing its thick tail assiduously.

He then sat upright again, sighed, yawned prodigiously with a flash of white teeth, tested the wind and, then, slowly and gracefully, he crossed the road and disappeared into the forest.

His immense sickle of a tail swinging from side to side like a bell-rope behind him.

To have spent ten minutes with such a rare and beautiful creature was a privilege.

Yet the Malagasy dislike and fear the Fosa.

They assert it is quite fearless and will attack zebu and calves.

And man himself if provoked.

But the Fosa is benign and noble and would curl up at your fireside: a large, gentle, honey-coloured adornment to your hearth.

# 1 lemur: King Julian

Image: DreamWorks

"It's Ok everybody: they're not here now!" [misquote]

I shall write about the fosa in The Aye-aye and I tomorrow...

Image: DreamWorks

I like to move it, move it.

She like to move it, move it.

We like to move it, move it.

bamboo sticks

Photo: Gregory Guida

A discovery in the rehearsal room today harnessed and articulated three modes / styles of communication:

• documentary
• durrell eccentricity
• animal spirit

These states of being / storytelling / narrative have enabled us to navigate through the non-fiction, the heightened drama and the animal behaviour.

Menagerie Manor, after only two days and in its short 20 minutes, now has greater breadth. It’s now more serious, witty, comedic and embraces greater animal physicality. The balance between these is going to be intricate and delicate; it is too early to fully realise what exactly might be experienced at the world première on 25 June…

But: Louie, the gibbon, did swing on an eight foot bamboo stick today; Oscar and Bali, our orang-utans, were hysterically funny with their pot-bellied-pillows; and actors urinated and wrestled on the floor!

We also got ahead: a psychological bonus.

We started to explore the elements of The Aye-aye and I (first published in 1992) and an expedition to Madagascar.

menagerie manor

Having spent the last ten days gathering elements with which to play, the rehearsal room became alive with: sofas, chairs, boxes, rugs, sticks, birdcages, bugs, cushions, books, suitcases, bowls, gloves, straw, bodies, and a menagerie of explorations, experiments, thoughts, sounds, music and ideas.

Menagerie Manor, first published in 1964, provided us with great stimulus today because the challenge of creating macaques, gibbons and orang-utans in a subtle but physical way, and creating the spirit of that animal, was great.

Ingredients for success: research, a methodology, thoughtfulness, sensitivity – further cushioned with trust and free of inhibitions.

It was so very inspiring to have three creative minds and bodies – possibly four if I might be included in the list – so very willing to explore the ridiculous and the impossible.

In order to prepare for the developments that might be offered up on day three, the evening was spent discussing modes of communication, the theatre, actors, performers, styles, status, work, legitimacy, convention and alfresco challenges.

other stories ...

Photo: Gregory Guida

Nine months in-the-planning, in-the-preparation, and day 1 arrived: idyllic.

The excitement, the butterflies, the organisation, the scaréd-ness of it all built to:

• welcoming performers at the airport (v. international!)
• reconnaissance of the Durrell site
• aye-ayes, giant jumping rats, orang-utans, gibbons and lemurs
• lunch with Dr. Lee Durrell and Donna Le Marrec
• meeting with hosts
• talking about Gerry’s storytelling
• conservation
• the Durrell mission of: “saving species from extinction”

brought home the prestigious nature of this project and assisting all at Durrell in animating their site with some of Gerald Durrell’s stories for their 50th Anniversary Celebrations.

The day was filled with orientation: information to digest, remember, assimilate; travel; accommodation arrangements; stories; Island history; Durrell legacy; and animals.

A day that is rare.

The first day on which a full company comes together perhaps happens only once or twice a year - rarely seven times a year!

I am reminded that before the end of 2009 this experience, this feeling, this responsibility, this adventure, this quest - this lunacy - will have happened seven times:

• outside / inside
• my family and other stories
• one million tiny plays about Britain
• notes to a goldfish
• 48 hours
• claw
• # 7 (tba)

A whirl-wind day! A fun day! A great night’s sleep…

Being able to offer up work is so exhilarating and feels good.