Camden Fringe: When He Fell – Work in Progress

An exploration of time, grief and mythology, When He Fell is the story of one girl trying to survive her own memories.

Just because I had no idea what is happening for most of the show, doesn’t mean it wasn’t interesting and visually stimulating to watch.

A god who chooses to sleep. A girl left awake.

This debut collaboration from four female artists centres on the Chinese mythological take of Pan Gu, the first living being who separated the earth and the sky.  We follow the story through three women, a whole lot of suitcases, puppetry, a layered soundscape and more, and explore the passing of time, but it’s a little hard to tell what other themes are being explored in the show - there’s definitely elements of sadness, isolation and loneliness going on but the story line isn’t clear enough to pull all of these together.

The show has a lovely element of shadow puppetry for the first telling of the tale of Pan Gu, transformed out of the piles of suitcases comes a set up of three screens, lights, screens and puppet elements to create a beautiful visual element. But due to the seating arrangements at the Chapel Playhouse, only half the audience is watching this straight on, and half are watching from the sides or behind, meaning we can see everything when things go wrong, or don’t see to be working, and so a little bit of that magic is lost.

Jess Andrews as ‘the Girl’, who is left behind by Pan Gu, portrays her as emotional, torn, tired and unable to escape from being haunted or controlled. She appears to be held prisoner by these archivists and is physically tied to these suitcases (which represent memories I work out much later) by thin red chains of a wool like material that tangle across the stage.

Performances by Bonnie Chan and Kate O’Neill as the archivists are dedicated in their performance but it’s hard to tell what they are, and their motivations, but their movements are well in sync. 

As a physical, devised piece, there’s a lot open to interpretation but the direction of the show, by Jess Smith, is a little unclear. The audience have to be told the show is over, the tech team had to start the clapping and then tell the audience to leave the space.

The show is confusing, and a bit busy. Audiences watch nervously as suitcases are stacked precariously on top of each other during the shadow puppetry, as the red woven lines tangle and cast members get stuck in them, as these lines lead to suitcases becoming harder to move. We watch awkwardly as the cast repeatedly try to free their ankles from the tangled web, and often take multiple tries, or elements of visible frustration creep in, though they’re doing their best not to show it.

Meet the suitcases, which they named Gus, Kelvin, Bertram, Lawrence and the Hulk.

It’s a good concept, but feels under rehearsed and under-developed – with more of this around the story line, it will make a great touring Fringe show – its flexible to stage, it’s literally suitcase theatre, and it has a unique appeal through a relatively unknown myth and a team of female creatives and performers.

When He Fell played at the Chapel Playhouse at Camden Fringe on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 August. More info. Next up, it heads to Tai Pei Fringe in September!

*I don’t give star ratings to works in progress or development, it’s not fair, it’s not nice and it doesn’t help the show grow!