This year's production
My Uncle Arly
This year's WebPlay Production is My Uncle Arly created in
partnership by Hoipolloi and Tiebreak theatre companies.
Here we explain what
My Uncle Arly is about and how the production was made.
About the Play
- Who is Uncle Arly?
- How was the play created?
- Who are the Characters in the play?
- What are the themes and ideas of the play?
Who is Uncle Arly?
Who
is Uncle Arly, I hear you say? Uncle Arly is Edward Lear,
nonsense poet, illustrator and traveller extraordinaire.
Mr Lear lived from 1812 to 1888, the Victorian period in
England. The play is inspired by his life and his work. His
fantastical poems, bizarre characters and absurd drawings,
as well as stories and incidents from his life, were all
brought together - and mixed up a lot - to make the show.
How was the play created?
To understand how the show was put together, you need to know
2 key words: collaboration, and improvisation.
Firstly, Hoipolloi collaborated with another
theatre company, Tiebreak, to come up with the idea of making
a show about Edward Lear. Shôn from Hoipolloi
and David from Tiebreak did lots of research on Mr Lear's
life and work. Steffi and Richard, Hoipolloi's designer
and production manager, also got their thinking caps on.
Then we were ready to enter the rehearsal room - and the
next stage of the collaboration began.
Remember there's no script yet, just ideas and imagination. Bring
on the fabulous actors... and a marvellous musician!
In rehearsals, the music, the songs, the design and the structure
of the scenes arrived through continuous improvisation between
the actors, the musician and the designer. One idea
led to another, and the more they played with the poems and
illustrations, the more the theatrical possibilities became
clear. Imagine, though, if everyone had been putting
in their ideas all at the same time? Complete chaos! It
was Shôn who led all this collaboration and improvisation,
taking on the role of Director. When they weren't
in the rehearsal room, Shôn found the time
to write the ideas and decisions down, and this eventually
became the script.
Who are the Characters in the play?
There are five actors in the play... playing about 5 million
different characters! Ok, not quite that many - you
can count them when you watch. Only 1 actor plays
1 character through the whole play, and that character is...
guess who? Edward Lear, also known of course as Uncle
Arly. The
other four actors work as an ensemble around Edward Lear.
They support his actions, interact with him, move the stories
forward and change the scenery as Mr Lear travels around
- often they are the scenery! Look out for the following
characters, who all appear in Edward Lear's poems:
- The Old Man from Calcutta
- Daddy Long Legs and the Fly
- The Old man from the East
- The Dong with the Luminous Nose
- The Pobble Who Has No Toes (where did those toes go??)
What are the themes and ideas of the play?
There are so many themes and ideas in the show that it's hard to know where to begin... but here are a few bits and pieces to give you a flavour:
- Journeys, and the curiosity to travel and discover. The idea of leaving somewhere never to return gives us the overall structure for the show.
- Transformation - of words into nonsense, of actors into many different characters, of everyday objects and props - all ways of looking at the real world differently.
- Escaping from the background of uptight Victorian England through adventure and fantasy.
- And of course, comedy!