Mystical tale about birth of Northampton
A talking salmon, souls trapped in stalactites and a shrieking monster - these are all part of an epic new production about the mythical beginnings of Northampton.
Firebrand – an imaginary tale about the birth of Northampton – will open at the Royal and Derngate next Friday.
The play, which will be staged in both theatres and in the space linking the two, follows Tom Buskin, a rebellious, mischievous cobbler's son, and his sister Gwen, as they travel into a mystical world to find out about their past, their future and the truth about their town.
But Tom and Gwen's journey, which finds them dancing with firebirds and enlisting the help of hermits and mermaids, actually began as a series of interviews on BBC Radio Northampton, and in social clubs around the town.
Playwright Justin Butcher, who started researching for the project more than 18 months ago, spent weeks quizzing members of the public, conducting radio phone-ins and looking into the history of the town before he started writing.
He said: "I was given the impression Northampton has a real history of mavericks, defined by their desire to be different from the mainstream.
"From the gunpowder plot, which originated in Northamptonshire, to the MP Charles Bradlaugh, there has been dissent over the centuries.
"I got a great impression of humanity and generosity of spirit but in equal measure moaning and negativity, a sense of Northampton failing to quite match up to its own expectations.
"Northampton is a very old town.
"It was a royal capital in the Middle Ages and Parliament met here.
"Its shoe industry was the centre of the global shoe industry for hundreds of years.
"There is a sense now almost of a town being haunted by its history."
The town in which the play begins is not, however, Northampton.
It is a place where there is only one cobbler, John Buskin, and he is marginalised and bullied.
His son, Tom Buskin, has elements of that maverick nature but he also represents the modern fear of gangs of youths and rebellion which exists in the town today.
Mr Butcher added: "I didn't want to totally romanticise his rebelliousness.
"I wanted to communicate some of that fear and crime and delinquency that exists today. This boy is a nuisance, but at the same time the community which despairs of him is a bunch of hypocrites who have marginalised and persecuted his father."
Persecution and marginalisation of minorities is a major theme in the play. Fundamental to the core of the story are the gypsies, who are hated and feared by the townsfolk.
Mr Butcher said: "I interviewed some West Indians who came over to Northampton in the 1940s about their experiences and on the whole they said there were some good and some bad.
"They felt, generally speaking, there was a degree of welcome but this was tempered with occasional racism like signs on guesthouse doors saying 'no blacks allowed'."
Dani Parr, Firebrand director, said rather than showing the actual history of Northampton, she had wanted to create a magical, epic production which would fill up the entire building.
She said: "When the theatre was closed for refurbishment we decided that we really wanted to plan a massive project that would celebrate both the reopening of the theatres, the linking of all the spaces within them and the community they serve."
The first act of the play will take place in the Derngate Theatre, but for the second act the audience will split into three groups to watch performances in the Royal, the Derngate and the Underground before coming together again for the final act in the Royal.
Unlike other large-scale productions, the cast, with the exception of the professional actors who play Tom and Gwen, are all amateur performers whose professions include the probation service, civil service, management, journalism and banking.
In addition to the acting cast, the theatre's community choir, which is also made up of non-professionals, will provide a large amount of the music which was written by composer Laurence Kaye.
But Ms Parr was keen to emphasise this was no amateur dramatic production. She said: "This has a professional creative team behind it.
I'm a professional director, and Laurence, Justin and my co-director Elly Green are all professionals.
"There's a huge team of people behind the project putting together costumes.
"We have scenic artists and a huge team of people making and creating the sets.
"What we have done is put a proper investment into the community. We have always had projects here for young people but we wanted to put some of our funding to support artistic and creative initiative in the community.
"It's not just about providing work but showing people that everybody has the capability to be creative in different ways and we wanted to prioritise that."
Mr Kaye has put together more than 80 musical accompaniments to go with the production ranging from full-scale choral songs to smaller soundbites to give the play more colour.
He said: "It's really quite unusual to make so many tracks. It's a very different production to most that I've done but because of the feel of the play it seems to ask for that, and Justin wrote in lots of suggestions to do with the music."
He said the music had heavy Irish and Scandinavian influences.
He added: "The story is a folk tale so it fits that the music should have those influences, but with a contemporary feel to it."
One song, The Tale of the Song Thrush, is actually based on the real noises that the birds make. Mr Kaye explained: "Birdsong is very integral to the telling of the story so I went away and downloaded lots of song thrush recordings and listened to the rhythm and shape of the birdsong and then converted it into a melody. Those recordings are also used in the music as well."
Mr Kaye added working with a community cast had been immensely rewarding.
He said: "There's a lot more people in this play which is more fun for me. It means that the final number is a big sound.
"But the thing that's wonderful is everybody's engagement and excitement with it.
"Sometimes in the professional world you are running from one thing to the next and it gets a bit like a production line.
"To be reminded of the joys and the excitement felt in the room with this group has been a real shot in the arm for me.
"It's been really joyful and a really good reminder of why we all do this."
Firebrand will be performed from September 7 to 9, at 7pm Friday and Saturday, and 3pm on Sunday. The theatre is also holding free tours of the buildings on Saturday and Sunday as part of the Heritage Open Day celebrations.
Tickets cost 10, or 5 concessions, and are available from the box office by calling Northampton 624811. For more information on Firebrand click here
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