Lunchtime talk write-up
Posted on Fri 4 Sep 2015
Is the earth hollow? Storytelling with obscure theories and unusual optics
On Friday 28 August Studio resident Tom McDonagh introduced his new theatre show ‘Hollow’, and talked about 19th century lectures, expeditions to the North Pole, and 3D shadow puppetry.
Tom McDonagh
Speaker
Tom McDonagh
Tom uses light to create unique storytelling experiences. As graduate fellow at Rockefeller University in New York, he designed and constructed microscopes to observe molecular processes. After dark he built experimental shadow plays for downtown theaters. Today he combines his background in science…On Friday 28 August Studio resident Tom McDonagh introduced his new theatre show ‘Hollow’, and talked about 19th century lectures, early expeditions to the polar regions, and 3D shadow puppetry. Here are five things I learned:
1. The early 19th century was a time of new ideas, big thinkers and wild theories in North America. There were few large institutions, universities or governments to dictate subjects of importance. This provided ample opportunity for people to think independently, and share their ideas with large audiences at candlelit lecture halls, seating hundreds at a time. These lectures provided mainstream entertainment.
2. One such lecturer Jeremiah Reynolds (1799 - 1858) was an advocate of a theory that the Earth was hollow. He began a campaign across the large US cities to drumming up support for an expedition to the South Pole to explore the idea that the inside of the Earth was an habitable utopia.
3. Reynolds launched an expedition to the Antarctic region, but the voyage was fraught with scurvy and a mutinous crew and did not find any evidence of a hollowed Earth. Written accounts of the expedition has influenced Tom’s approach to research and development of ‘Hollow’, a new piece of theatre. Tom has been exploring the literature and photographs representing the unusual environments, shades of light and dark, textures, and reflections that Reynolds experienced on his expedition.
4. Tom’s background is in shadow puppetry, and in this new piece of theatre, he has explored exciting new possibilities of 3D shadow puppetry. He has also developed a reflective projection using retro-reflective material used in high-vis jackets. The projector enables one to mix different visual layers together, like an analogue version of photoshop.
5. ‘Hollow’ is currently in development, and will be performed in Bristol in 2016. The narrative will follow the adventures of Reynolds from the dimly lit lecture halls, to the stark and glassy landscapes of Antarctica. Towards the end of the piece, Reynolds will become consumed into the textures of shadows as the audience loses track of what is a shadow and what is silhouetted reality, reflecting Reynolds disconnect from the real world.