COELACANTH
2005
She is a
rising star in the world of
competitive tree climbing, he's a
shy nonentity who has somehow grown
up without noticing it himself.
They fall in love, but on the day he
loses his father, she loses an eye.
He offers her one of his, but sadly
things never look the same for
either of them.
Then, at the 1999 eclipse, their
lives change forever.
Could they rediscover in their
hearts what was once thought
extinct?
Do they have more trees to climb?
The
coelacanth (pronounced see-la-kanth)
is a prehistoric species of fish, once
presumed to be extinct, but when
rediscovered in the 1930s, unevolved for
300 million years, was almost fished to
extinction by man's desperation to study
and collect. There's a couple of great
resources all about it here and here. The fish
provides a lovely central metaphor for the
show but anyone expecting a piece solely
about it would have been disappointed.
I had
the story of Coelacanth in my mind for
about a year before I sat down to write
the script. I had written an article for
The Idler on the subject of tree climbers
in the first half of the 20th Century
which was intended for a supplement
magazine about outdoor hobbies. Then in
late 2004, I wrote a pilot programme for
BBC Radio Light Entertainment called
Branches. This was about a couple meeting
up after many years they had sat in
trees as children and told each other
stories and the tale they told in the show
was what became Coelacanth.
By early 2005 I knew it was going to be my first solo comedy since Poppy Day and began the preparation of booking a slot at the Pleasance and entering the Fringe Programme. The script went through a lot of changes: gags were taken out in some places and added in others, but it was only after getting very close to a story like this that as a writer I began to really understand what it was actually about. While it seems to be a romantic comedy, I think it's ultimately a story about the narrator's relationship with his father. It's a bit of misdirection, I'll admit, but I would hope it's rewarding in both ways.
And of course the old team were back again. Erica Whyman was working on about 16 different shows but found the time to pass her usual magic eye on the play. Her touch and sense of pace took the piece to a new level. Simon Oakes wrote and arranged a beautiful score in about half an hour and again his contribution was enormous. As was Malcolm Rippeth's, a lighting designer who could make a show in a loo look extraordinary; his eye for the eclipse sequence was terrific. Andy Lane took brilliant photos of me as he has done for about 20 years. The poster shot was taken on Wimbledon Common and done for real (ie I was actually jumping). Then Stephany Ungless applied her brilliant talents on the poster and flyer. Chris Hone operated the show every day skillfully and with sensitivity; by the end of the run he knew it so well he could have been my understudy. Pru Rowlandson was a fantastic publicist and a lot of the show's success is down to her brilliance.
There were some lovely reactions from audiences. The cast of U.S. Undressed came en masse and were just brilliant. A lot of people wore their "I have more trees to climb" badges (one of which you can see here) and the audience reviews at the Fringe website were very nice indeed. The press were also delightful and for the first time I actually won an award, the Herald Angel. I was also shortlisted for The Stage Best Actor Award which was just amazing for me.
I
performed the show again in December at
the Etcetera Theatre in Camden Town and it
was great to return to it. Chris again
operated and audiences were very good. And
as a bonus, there was a nice review in the
Evening Standard.
I
performed the show twice at the Latitude
Festival in Suffolk in July 2006. It went
brilliantly and Simon and Mark from Suns
of the Tundra played the score live.
Excellent. We returned to Latitude in 2009
for what was my favourite ever performance
- on a stage in the woods on a Saturday
morning to a crowd that slowly built up
over the course of the hour, attracted by
the music and the story - sensational.
Other festival performances include Port
Eliot in 2009 and 2011, Green Man in 2010
and 2011, Wilderness in 2011 and 2012 and
Green Belt in 2011.
Coelacanth
was the BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play on 13th
October 2006, produced by Sally Avens and
using Simon's beautiful music. HERE is a
photo of the recording in a wood.
Coelacanth
was included in the book MORE TREES TO CLIMB
After
publication I took the show to a series of
book festivals in 2009-10: Edinburgh,
Cheltenham and Wigtown.
In
2012 the excellent people at Show
and Tell booked a fine tour of the
country, including dates in Belfast,
Bristol, Oxford and Harrogate. It was just
great to take the piece on the road again.
I
do hope I get to perform it more times in
the future.
In the meantime, I have more trees to climb.
".
. . SHE WAS A HUG JUST WAITING TO HAPPEN"Read a script extract from Coelacanth
PURCHASE BOOK
Coelacanth is included in the eBook of More Trees to Climb available from amazon.co.uk
LISTEN TO MUSIC CLIP
PURCHASE SOUNDTRACK CD
Almost the Right People (containing music from
many of my shows) is available right now from my
webshop
