Jenine Collocott is one of those directors who constantly surprises with her choices. One thing remains constant: there will be something that tickles your senses.
The Snow Goose, when just looking at the title, might sound like an odd one, removed from her usual more contemporary topics, but when theatre producer Simon Cooper contacted her to direct it, she said ‘yes’ and then rushed out to the only English book store in Florence (where she was studying, among others, masks) to read the book!
He had already attached James Cairns and Taryn Bennett to the project, and, says Collocott, “I adore them”, a compelling reason to go ahead.
It was her first time to work with Bennett, but she had worked with Cairns on High Diving and Dirt previously. “They are both so very talented. I felt lucky to be brought into the group,” she notes.
The original idea to do the stage adaptation actually came from Cooper’s wife, Helen, as it was a story they both loved in their youth. To adapt the work, the trio started with an improvisation exercise where Collocott asked the actors to tell the story from as many perspectives as they could. This was how they found their cast of characters and discovered narrative connections: “For example, the hunters, the postmistress, the General – and so on. We also did fun things like tell the story from the perspective of the lighthouse and the snow goose.
“In rehearsals, we would improvise around what they had prepared and find wonderful backstories and a number of monologues, many of which are in the script. And, for the dialogue, I would give a provocation and the actors would improvise scenes on the floor while I furiously tried to keep up, writing down what I liked from what they were doing. Then we’d craft it and craft it until it was what we wanted.”
The passage of time was the big narrative complexity, she explains. “In the book the goose comes and goes over a number of years, but in theatre this quickly became redundant and that’s when I had the idea of the news-readers. James found a load of original London BBC broadcasts, which he transcribed and then we went about aligning world events to the world we were creating.”
Her dream was for this production to be an adaptation and not a retelling of the book.
“I wanted us to have a take on it. What was the story we wanted to tell? Discover that and put it on stage – and in doing so respect the medium of theatre and original story.”
And that is how she got to the theatrical medium of the piece – masks.
“I realised that to bring the power of this beautiful piece of prose from the past to the contemporary stage was going to take an investment of craft and inspiration.”
Masks, she knew, have the ability to transpose emotions through simple actions and this was the conceptual key to unlocking the theatrical impact of this powerful story.
“The journey I embarked upon with James and Taryn has been a voyage of discovery for all of us. We have made tough but respectful decisions in relation to the story and rediscovered the potential of this poetic piece.”
It’s a story for all ages – young and old.
“For adults it seems to awaken a naivete and, for many, the memory of this much-loved Paul Gallico story from their youth.”
For both actors this has also been a departure. Collocott lists all their abilities, like Cairns’s voice and accent ability and Bennett’s physical theatre ability, which made them a perfectly paired duo.
“They were helping each other with their strengths… as this is a play that requires both vocal and physical ability,” contends the director.
“They play a number of characters, which requires a number of different voices and physically different bodies.”
For this theatrical trio it’s been mostly a departure from their previous work, but because their work is their passion, it catapulted this particular Snow Goose into flight – magnificently.
• This is Gauteng’s first run of The Snow Goose with Bennett’s first performance here – ever. It is presented by Daphne Kuhn in collaboration with KBT Productions and runs at Sandton’s Auto and General Theatre on the Square from tonight to May 16. Bookings can be made by calling the theatre at 011 883 8606, Strictly Tickets at 082 553 5901 or book online: www.strictlytickets.com. Enquire about school groupings, group discounts and dinner show packages.