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The Box Social
Short story by James Reaney; adapted for the stage by Nicole St. Martin Preface Theatre, 2008 Director: Michael Bradley Set Designers: Michael Bradley and Nicole St. Martin Costume Designer: Victoria Shillington Photography by Joanna McDermott |
Sylvia is a lonely young girl who is an outsider in her community: she speaks very little and few go out of their way to speak to her. Her only companions are the three Furies that follow her on her journey and give her world colour and voice. When Sylvia falls in love with the nameless "He", a boy in her class, she is delighted to catch his eye but is unsure of herself and how their relationship should proceed. One unexpected night leads to pregnancy and then to miscarriage, spurring Sylvia to voice her anger and betrayal, confronting "Him" with the silent truth.
The production is a stylized interpretation of the story, centred in movement, but also incorporating projected animation and traversable scenery. As the story leaps forward and backwards through time, redolent with foreshadowing and dramatic irony, the lighting seeks to help delineate past from present, as well as Sylvia's fantastical inner world from the real world. |
