Our Senior School dramatists received rave reviews as they entertained audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with their interpretation of the Herman Melville classic Moby Dick. Taran Chawla and Paul Wilkinson report on their production:
During the Spring term, a group of ten boys formed the drama company Leviathan, with the challenge of performing at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Rehearsing and performing Mrs Moore’s adaptation of Moby Dick was a unique experience, which focused on exploring movement and space in a physical retelling of Captain Ahab’s obsessive vengeance against the ‘white whale’.
After all our hard work and preparation, the day we had been waiting for finally arrived and the company of ten boys departed for Edinburgh and the most famous art’s festival in the world. After further rehearsals in C aquila, the intimate venue where we would perform our production which was centrally located just off the Royal Mile, we felt prepared and excited for our very first performance. Each day, we bravely trooped up and down the Mile ‘flyering’, something which has become part of the Fringe culture. Our attempts at this were particularly successful, as we were featured on BBC news!
The opening show was fantastic, yet every night we picked up more momentum and by Friday, we all felt we produced our best performance yet. Following this final outing, we received a review from the Fest, the official festival magazine, who gave us an impressive four stars and described our production as:
What a surprising, precious little lump of ambergris Leviathan Theatre’s production is (four stars). This 10-strong cast of young men perform not just with energy, but with restraint and nuance.
FEST REVIEW OF LEVIATHAN’S MOBY DICK
Performing every evening from Monday to Friday, all the company can agree that the 45 minutes spent on stage were by far the most tiring but rewarding moments experienced during the Summer. It was a truly unbelievable week and it was amazing to be able to perform our show, and watch other impressive shows too, including the Voices of Lions. Thanks must go to Mrs James and Ms Plowman for their continued help during the process, but on behalf of the cast, we would like to give a huge thanks to Mrs Moore, who showed us incredible dedication and creativity.
The cast would like to wish the very best to the next group of Hamptonians who form Leviathan!
Back to All Articles
