Chapter 178: Hikapee Theatre's Moonfall

Production photo credits: Robin Boot Photography (www.robinboot.com)

On the card I gave my youngest for her 5th birthday last week, there was a button to make the rocket light up and sound a blast, but I'd been saving the card for so long, the battery had died. No matter. We used our imagination. Love fuels all sorts of adventures, and one of the things I love about this circus journey is that I can take the kids along for the ride. So it was a complete joy to take the girls to Jacksons Lane last Sunday to see Hikapee Theatre's Moonfall, the story of a trip to the moon, and back, starring Bryony Livesey and Edd Casey. My 8 year old had last seen Bryony in a class at Flying Fantastic, while I'd last seen Edd as a rope aerialist in NoFit State's Bianco on the Southbank, so it was fascinating for us to see them in a completely different incarnation. 

We were enchanted even before the performance began by the strings of light-bulbs hanging down the backdrop, twinkling away. The bespoke music score by Finn Anderson was also instrumental in setting the scene and, whether sounding an upbeat, pragmatic march or ethereal mellifluence, always hit the right note.

Bryony was a tomboy of a princess getting up to all sorts of tricks on a rope that hung down in the centre of her circle of green, joined by her erstwhile friend the prince. The play between the two was a joy to watch - there was an easy chemistry there that made for engaging characters and a seamless choreography in their acrobatics. We loved the aerial sequences and the innovative use of the rope as a vehicle for children's games whether as hiding place, skipping rope or swing, but also were huge fans of their clowning around. The girls fell about laughing when Edd morphed into the Queen Mum in her apron (never a drag!), and particularly identified with the daughter's resistance to having her hair brushed ("though you are not quite so dramatic when you brush ours, Mum").

However, while the prince was free to come and go as he pleased ("that's just not fair Mum!"), the princess was zipped up into a froth of apricot silk and marooned on her island, getting increasingly frustrated until she realised that she had the power to change the status quo. By making a break for the moon and her lunatic dream, she pushed past all sorts of invisible barriers that had been holding her back in the process. Her departure was a wake up call for the prince, who went in search of her and had his own odyssey. 

The aerial hoop of a moon was used to lyrical effect and for more wonderful acrobatics that drew delighted gasps from the audience. The use of circus skills brought home the message that the sky really is the limit, the one lesson I want my children to take with them in life. The girls gave Moonfall five bright shining stars, thank you Hikapee Theatre.



Moonfall is a work in progress and Hikapee Theatre will be taking it down to Great Yarmouth this summer for further development in a week's residency at Seachange Arts. Click here to see the video trailer from the original scratch version.