March 24th – 26th
June 1rst – 10th 2017
Next performance in Folkestone: June, 9th 2018
On Saturday, 10 June 2017, Folkestone/UK became a stage for a theatrical performance. The site-specific show, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s fantastical short story “The Fisherman and his Soul”, led the large audience through the Old High Street, a tradition-laden road in the historical city centre. Cafés, restaurants, shops and flats transformed into the stage of this piece as the audience followed the young fisherman on his travels into a strange watery world. Oskar Wilde inverted the tale of the little mermaid. In his story, the man falls in love and follows the beloved water creature into the depths of the sea.
This requires that he separate himself from his human soul, who repeatedly calls out to him and tries to lure him back onto solid land. The fisherman then indeed leaves the sea in order to lay eyes on a young dancing girl with naked feet.
Despairing, he returns to the sea, but his beloved dies and he lets himself be drawn by the sea into the depths.
The piece poses questions about yearning, freedom and the utterly human feeling of being drawn to what is known, what is home.
This work marks the end of the first part of the overall project. On Sunday, 18 June, all the artists selected from the European partner cities traveled to Freiburg in order to work on the main large-scale venue production.
This production with the title CROSSING LINES will come back to Folkestone at June, the 9th, 2018
Photos below by Andrew Aitchinson
