A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
Kneehigh were invited to make a piece of work in Malta in 2000. The project was based on the memories of the local population in the face of rapidly evolving change in the town. The final show worked so well that we were invited back.
Two years later the British Council in Malta and Cyprus helped us forge links with St James Cavalier in Valletta and THOC, the State Theatre of Cyprus in Nicosia; they in turn found performers, makers, musicians and the resources to create this epic 3 - year ‘Three Island Project’.
At each site the professional core team begins the making process. Every place makes its own special demands. In Malta we were near water, we needed to find boats and people to work them. We were introduced to local people willing to help us and they become part of the production. The team grew and every such chance encounter added meaning to the performance.
The production opened in Birgu, Malta, in September 2003, with a panoramic view across the Grand Harbour to Valetta. The whole town turned out to watch the event, witnessing local people abseiling down the 60ft sheer walls of the town, speed boats racing across the water and an ‘angel’ flying 300ft over the grand harbour.
In Cyprus in 2004 we had to get permission from the UN to build our village, as we wanted to place it on the Green Line, the buffer zone between the two separated halves of the island. THOC found us a rare and wonderful mix of Turkish and Greek Cypriot theatre makers and amazingly we also managed to get permission to allow the two halves to come together in the audience, although the Turkish Cypriot artists and audience had to come through passport control first. Our village was set in a derelict taverna, uninhabited since clashes made it unsafe to visit because of sniper fire. Every night we brought it back to life with songs, dances and poignant emotion.
Some memorable moments….
A Cypriot scout group building a rope bridge and a huge tree house for the set; a Greek police band accompanying the show; a local child with an amazing voice singing a plaintive farewell song. In Cyprus we discovered that Michalis Terlikkas, who plays the Hermes in the show, is a major singing celebrity there, as he made his entrance on a tiny tricycle the packed audience surged forward cheering wildly and calling his name.
But my strongest memory making this show was in a rehearsal. Derman, a Turkish Cypriot performer began teaching his dance to the company. The Greek Cypriot girls immediately joined him, with tears in their eyes they said, “we know this, and this is our dance as well”. I had been told that the two cultures have been separated for 26 years. I now had a glimpse of what that meant and this is perhaps what this work does best – it leaps across boundaries of nationality, culture, language, prejudice and history.
This year it’s time to bring the project home to the third island, Cornwall.
Hayle, Cornwall 2005
This time we have built our village on South Quay in Hayle. The team not only perform in the village but also live in it.
We chose Hayle. This town, in common with Birgu and Nicosia, is now undergoing a transformation. The harbour site we are on has been in limbo for many years, but for these few evenings our village will come to life. I don’t know what surprises, lucky accidents, and wonderful chance encounters will happen here but they will, and they will become part of the meaning of the piece and produce many more memories.
I love this work, I love the chance encounters and the serendipity of working in unconventional spaces; I love meeting people and seeing them adding their particular skills to the project; I love watching the distinction between the audience and the performers gradually blur and I love seeing the project gathering layers of meaning day by day.”
Bill Mitchell, Director
Read the Writers comments here
Music from the show is available on CD here
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is presented by Kneehigh Theatre and WILD WORKS In collaboration with THOC, State Theatre of Cyprus and St James Cavalier, Malta
