There are few things as powerful or strange as the hazy, evasive memories of childhood. Memories are strange: seemingly insignificant events may be recalled with ease, while more important ones are lost forever. It is quite perplexing then, that in such a connected age we are so fundamentally disconnected from these formative experiences of childhood.

It was perhaps this disconnect between the present and the semi-remembered events of childhood that informed Living Film Set, a Theatre Sandbox 2010 commissioned project. Developed by Analogue theatre company and The Junction in Cambridge, the resulting performance used pervasive media technologies to trigger events to mirror the way a glimpse of an old photograph might trigger a memory.

The story was based on the childhood memories of Analogue’s Liam Jarvis, and was set in May 1985 – the year his father disappeared. Scale models recreated the house that Jarvis grew up in – a small terraced house on the old Sound City lot of the Shepperton Film Studios - while an interactive surface table allowed audiences to physically navigate their way through the story. Beginning with a phonecall that had long since vanished from history, the audience were invited to recreate the journey of a four year old child searching for his missing father by peering through miniature half-closed doors, listening in on phone conversations, and watching clips of films created in Shepperton in 1985.

Analogue are a South East based theatre company who specialise in making contemporary theatre. Their award-winning show, Mile, debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007, and has since toured the UK twice. The Theatre Sandbox 2010 project was undertaken by Analogue’s Artistic Directors, Liam Jarvis and Hannah Barker.

The Junction is a arts and entertainment venue based in Cambridge, which stages club nights, comedy, dance, live music, theatre, and events for young people.

Related Links:
Theatre Sandbox
Analogue

Posted on Thu 21 April 2011.

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