Prepare for a dip in the ocean, and a dizzying soar through the air… a dance in the dark, and an eddy of storytelling, music, comedy, shipping forecasts, and animation. This is The Watery Journey of Nereus Pike, presented by Laura Mugridge as ‘a true story that I made up’, with live sound from Tom Adams (that he ‘also made up’). Here, you will meet two characters on a mysterious (and indeed watery) journey of discovery and destiny.
Nereus and Mariana live in a lighthouse. Among other things they enjoy the beautiful view from their window, and performing workout routines to Van Halen soundtracks. But their equilibrium is about to be disturbed. Mariana, interested in birds and travelling by hot-air balloon, is increasingly drawn upwards, towards the sky, and Nereus… well… he is preoccupied with the sea beneath them. As you let Mugridges’ sea-themed story wash over you, you may find it funny, sad, at times confessional, and often poetic. Throughout the show, your laughter may well be followed by moments of quiet contemplation. Through innovative use of sound, lighting and narration, Mugridge and Adams invite you to hear what you don’t see, and see beyond what is put in front of you, as they ponder the obscurity of some of life’s familiar but enigmatic pathways and desires. Boundaries between the imagination and ‘real events’ are played with and questioned. Mugridge’s detailed descriptions of lighthouse rooms, swirling expanses of ocean or airy stratospheres, will propel and rotate you through highs and lows, as you sit in your seat, watching and listening to this show, that is deceptively simple.
Watch out for some ingenious techniques for creating soundscapes of the ocean (bizarrely you may well want to recreate these, once you have seen the show), as well as the chance to peer through viewfinders at the ocean floor, fight with predatory sea-creatures, and, of course, impersonate sea-demons and extremely ugly fish. This participatory element tries to incorporate the audience as inhabitants of Nereus’ aquatic landscape, but does not reflect a skimping on the quality of the production, whose ideas on love, companionship and individuality, whenever they resurface, run surprisingly deep.
The show at Reading’s South Street Theatre drew audiences young and old from Reading and the surrounding towns. The couple sitting next to me were fans of stand up comedy, and curious to see this style of performance unconventionally mixed with theatrical and musical effects… not to mention an unusual preoccupation with nautical mythology. They left smiling when the house lights came back up, as did I.