Halloween at the Hepworth

It’s a bit tricky to know where to begin this week after the intensity of the Halloween week…I’ll go with Hurray!! I think as that best sums up my reaction to a day of performances yesterday where everything went pretty well as well as we hoped it would…

The commissions was to create a range of pop up theatre of a ghostly, eerie nature suitable to be performed in the galleries of the Hepworth…we had a couple of weeks to pull it together and 17 actors to utilize to their best extent…quite a tall order and one which I approached with a suitable amount of respect…

Now Halloween performances are not unfamiliar to us – we have been at Nostell Priory for the last 3 years creating theatre for the same occasion but every venue requires a different approach and so I made that our creative planning carefully considered the surroundings we would be performing in.

As a consequence one of the most interesting things about the performance was the relationship between location and performance.  Gallery 1 and Hepworth’s iconic works became the habitat of Walter de la Mare’s mysterious Listeners in a piece of physical theatre.  It was also the platform for poetry written through the ages on the subject of the supernatural by writers such as Robert Frost, Edgar Allen Poe and for the most contemporary writer our very own Amy Winder.

Gallery 6 became the home of three witches of Shakespearean decent who within the work of Des Hughes were in ecstasies as they cast a spell of a most sinister nature.  I was so very impressed with braveness and boldness of the actors that took this on…their energy and commitment in performance was a joy to watch. 

Gallery 7 with it’s Caro exhibition became the setting for the retelling of the horror filled tale of Bloody Mary eloquently told by a group of actors who grabbed hold of the story with both hands to give it to the audience with clarity and integrity.  Caro (this time in Gallery 10) was also the background to the ghostly tale of Little Beth a melodrama of the spookiest kind the melody of which I guarantee has been rattling around in the audiences heads since they watched it.  Also in this Gallery a dancer performed a piece inspired by the story of Giselle…something memorable and poignant…

The other two pieces we performed were very different in nature…The Zombie tour was an interactive piece that had a team of managers, clinicians, Hepworth Staff and thugs ushering people with an “unfortunate condition” round a research facility…there were more than a few jumps at the sometimes over vigilant policing of security and laughter at the Zombie film references. Finally we created Living Waxworks in the Calder to welcome people into their fright night cinema experience…I don’t think my actors have ever been as still for so long…

As you can see – we were pretty busy yesterday…a big shout out to the staff at the Hepworth for their invaluable support.  Also a massive amount of credit to our receptive audience with people coming back to the gallery to catch more of the performances as they enjoyed what they saw earlier in the afternoon so much.  The stamina of some parents who stayed with us to the end was massively appreciated.  However finally, and most importantly Hallowen at the Hepworth Company 2015 I salute you…for your professional work ethic, your creativity, your graft, your talent and the fact you can now clear up after yourselves…you genuinely rock team so spend today knowing you are wonderful!