This spring, David Almond’s beloved children’s book Skellig comes to the ADC Theatre. Having captivated imaginations of every age for the last twenty-five years, Skellig has won the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year Award and has been published in over thirty languages. Read on to find out how the Skellig team have brought this beloved classic to the stage.
But bringing Skellig to life isn’t a simple process. Director Stan Hunt explains that ‘as a playtext, Skellig is more challenging than most. There’s no scene transitions, more roles than there are characters, and directions to make characters fly!’. So, the Skellig company has had quite the task on their hands putting together a compelling and faithful show. The creative team had to focus particularly on the titular character - the bird-angel-creature that eventually introduces himself as Skellig. It was both frustrating and exciting to Hunt that ‘Skellig is such a mystery. We see surprisingly little of him, begging for beer and aspirin as he feeds himself on rats and mice. He’s unhoused, and definitely suffering, but he also might be a little magic.’ From this mix of emotions the conversations started, says Hunt. ‘There’s so much to handle carefully, and so many stereotypes that we need to acknowledge and step away from. I’m very grateful for the honesty and care of my cast, as well as my assistant directors, Abi and Ella. I’m also deeply indebted to the advice of playwright Sophie Cairns, who helped me to formulate my initial thoughts on Skellig as a character’.
In bringing this complex character to the stage, the Skellig team put their heads together and emerged with some key production concepts. Co-costume designer Chloe Jacobs took inspiration from ‘the industrial and brutalist ideas that reflect the play’s themes of transformation’ in designing the costumes for the multi-roling cast. With co-designers Disha Mondal and Joanne Yau, she built up a ‘stark black-and-white colour scheme’, focusing on ‘creating costumes that feel both grounded and otherworldly’
Meanwhile, the puppet team of Clotilde Dumont and Sophie Daly-Hunt were working on a series of animals and - of course - Skellig’s wings. Dumont explains that she started with a ‘raw and distressed’ vision, using ‘recycled materials and eclectic construction methods’ that help to bring the ‘otherworldly into the physical space of the stage’. The team’s aim? ‘To take the audience’s imaginations to the skies’.
Skellig
by David Almond
Tuesday 4th - Saturday 8th February, 7.45PM
ADC Theatre
Click here to book your tickets!