One of the highlights of this year's Offbeat Festival is Flute Theatre's Pericles with two versions of the production being staged, including one for autistic individuals and their families. Daily Info sat down with Ollie from the company to discuss this take on one of the Bard's lesser-known works.
Daily Info: What's Pericles all about?
Ollie: Pericles is about love, loss and survival. At its core is a family, and through this family our audience get to witness the human experience of falling in love, losing those we love, and how we hold ourselves and each other together through all the storms that life throws our way.
DI: What can audiences expect from the show?
O: Someone recently said that it’s play that warms your heart, breaks it, and then mends it again, and I think that pretty much sums it up. You can also expect to dance with us on stage at the end!
DI: Pericles is one of the lesser-known works by Shakespeare. Why did you pick this play? And what do you feel it offers a modern audience?
O: Shakespeare’s late plays are preoccupied with the idea of transformation - we see it in the transformation of Hermione’s statue in The Winter’s Tale, we see it in Prospero’s forgiveness in The Tempest, and, without giving too much away, we see another transformation over the course of Pericles. Theatre is at its most effective when we, as an audience, are able to be changed, and both of our versions of Pericles offer audiences a transformational experience. There is also something extraordinarily relevant in this play of people fleeing for their lives, losing loved ones at sea, and experiencing miraculous reunions that speaks loudly to audiences today. It’s also really funny!
DI: As part of this production you perform two versions of Pericles, including one for autistic individuals and their families. How do you adapt the piece for these two audiences?
O: Our version of Pericles for autistic audiences and their families tells the story of Pericles through a series of sensory games. Each participant becomes an active part of the story alongside the actors, and through these games each individual is given the chance to engage with the story in whichever way suits them best, allowing them to share what it feels to be alive and celebrate their unique identity. Every single performance is different, and is adapted to the specific needs of each individual that walks through the door.
Our full length version of Pericles is a full scale production for general audiences, that is informed by the company’s work with autistic individuals. To see both productions in one sitting is a unique opportunity to understand more the essence of Shakespeare’s late plays; an exploration of the suffering of the innocent, redemption and forgiveness.
DI: Can you sum the show up in three words?
O: Transformative, Unique, Funny
Pericles is at Offbeat Festival on Saturday 17th June.