What Falling Feels Like is a story of obsession, depression, and an albatross.
Samuel and Benjamin, live together on the edge of the world, overlooking the sea.
There’s no one around for miles – just the birds.
Their life together is isolated, but peaceful, until Benjamin becomes interested in the birds that circle the waves day and night. His interest turns to obsession and he starts talking about learning to fly with the object of his desire. Fearing that he will lose Benjamin to the birds and the waves, Samuel takes a desperate leap, changing their lives forever.
Originally conceived as an ensemble work, incorporating elements of puppetry, heightened text, and physical performance in 2016, the story was reimagined for the screen for vNAF in 2020 where it won a Standard Bank Bronze Ovation Award.
Young and Pilkington now imagine the play for stage once more, offering an intimate storytelling experience through a combination of live animation, object theatre, and oration. The one-hander will bring the story to life, through the manipulation of household objects, miniature puppetry, analogue projection and zoetrope devices, accompanied by the haunting sounds of Geoffrey Diver’s loop pedal.
Prepare to be delighted by the mechanisms used to tell the story, and simultaneously to surrender to the world of Benjamin and Samuel and the albatross.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Joe Young and Nicola Pilkington in association with the National Arts Festival
Written by Joe Young
Direction by Nicola Pilkington in consultation with Maude Sandham
Performed by Iman Isaacs
Soundscore by Geoffrey Diver
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Joe Young (Producer/Writer):
Joe Young is a theatre maker and writer currently based in London working in the film industry. Having trained at Wits University, Joe has worked across a range of shows embracing experimental story telling approaches, including the award winning touring production “DARKNoon” and “ROCKY! Return of the Loser” (Edinburgh Fringe).
Nicola Pilkington (Producer/Director)
Nicola Pilkington was born and bred in the boiling-pot Afropolitan of Johannesburg and now practices as a multidirectional artist, researcher and educator in Cape Town, with a core interest in caring collaborations in process-led projects. After the hard waves of the pandemic, Nicola has been hungry to make performer-centred work that invites an audience to partake in the world-building. They are delighted to be staging “What Falling Feels Like.” as part of the Arena Programme at the National Arts Festival this year, after being awarded a Standard Bank Bronze Ovation Award in 2020 for the animated version.
They have proudly contributed to Koleka Putuma’s “No Easter Sunday for Queers” (2019); “Virtual Blackout” (2020); “Priority Mail: Process Lab” as part of the Africa 2020 Season (2021); and the filmed version of “Unfathomable” (2022).
