So it's a pleasure to see him pushing forward with two personal passions of his: gothic storytelling and digital theatre. His company Threedumb Theatre adapted Victor Hugo's 'NOTRE DAME DE PARIS' into a horrorifyingly atmospheric livestream entirely filmed on a mobile phone in one singular tracking shot. It's no substitute for being live in the space with the actors and set, but it's a vital area of experimentation which has made huge strides forward since the pandemic and its lockdowns forced us to find new ways of sharing and engaging with theatre.
It's immediately clear that this is not a theatre show squeezed reluctantly onto the screen. The whole thing is designed from start to finish with the online, at-home audience 100% in mind, as is made clear from an opening slide which reminds us to dim the lights and switch to full screen, which I obligingly did! As a consequence the direction is thrilling cinematic. Careful attention to transitions and points of view keep the perspective spinning out as fast as the story, with sharp angles, quick tracks and bold use of coloured light and silhouette to create a dizzying and disorientating Parisian backdrop. You feel at times like the bellringer himself, pulled in all directions with unexpected force by the ropes of Notre Dame.
This classic tale of a twisted triangle of unwholesome love and lust here opens with a blood drenched Esmerelda, played with balletic poise by Maria Masonou, fleeing a frenzied mob. She finds sanctuary in the cathedral, and is quizzically comforted by the gargoyle Stryga (Lizzie Burder). I loved the presentation of Stryga, her gargoyle costume was half blanket, half puppet, and totally otherworldly. She acted as a conduit from the all too real world of our own living rooms (or room of choice!) into the theatrical space. From this cloistered captivity, Esmeralda's fate is sealed. She is trapped, torn between the memory of her dead lover, the obsessive attentions of creepy priest Frollo (a scene-chomping Duncan Riches) and the simple-minded, but fundamentally gentle-hearted outcast Quasimodo (a puppyish Gary Duncan). The lack of prosthetics on Quasimodo marks a continuing trend, as seen recently in James McAvoy's noseless Cyrano. here it works well to quickly establish sympathy for this character treated unfairly as a monster by his fellow citizens, and highlights the cruelty and arbitrary way we can label people outcasts and irredeemables based on appearances alone.
The script by Stuart Crowther was paced and really shone in crowd scenes, where the dialogue was crisp and cutting, and in moments of humour (the gargoyle retitles herself "executive limestone sentry"). Filmed at The Space, it's great to see Watford's Pump House also recognised for its support in this innovative area of staged performance.
Find out more and watch Threedumb shows by visiting their website, where you can also support their work through gofundme.
