One of the things I adore about theatre is the creative potential of the visual design and how worlds and universes can be brought to life on stage. The possibilities are endless and none more so than through the framework of puppetry. Box Tale Soup, a UK-based theatre company that are celebrated for their “transportive puppetry”, are returning to Edinburgh this summer with their adaptations of ‘Casting the Runes’ and ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. I recently had the opportunity to hear more about the productions from Noel Byrne, one of the Founders and Artistic Directors. The creative has worked on the script, set design, puppets and lighting for the shows, alongside fellow founder Antonia Christophers and the rest of the Box Tale Soup team. He also performs in both productions with Antonia and they are joined by Adam Boyle in ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. The multi-talented company is the definition of creativity for me and I really enjoyed finding out about their plans for this year’s Fringe.
As a designer by day, I am particularly fascinated by your artistry. How did you get into puppet and set design?
Puppets are magical, instantly transportive, with an otherworldly quality that engages an audience’s imagination immediately. I love the fact that they allow us to show and do things that would otherwise be impossible on stage.
In practical terms it’s been a sort of accidental love affair for our company, things snowballed as the ideas developed. We’ve learned a lot along the way and I like to think we have our own unique approach now. We employ puppetry in different ways according to the needs of each show, and it’s always exciting to discover what works.
In artistic terms I think I’ve always been drawn to puppetry – Jim Henson’s work was a big influence on me growing up, not just the Muppets but the more fantastical work like Labyrinth and Dark Crystal. It made me realise that anything was possible with puppetry, and I still feel that same sense of magic when I see great puppetry now.
The set design side sort of follows on naturally I think. Our sets have grown and become more elaborate as we’ve learned and progressed, but in a way I think it’s almost an extension of the puppetry. Our sets often move and transform, become part of the choreography. So they’re being puppeteered too in a sense. When we make a show now, the initial set drawings are one of the first things we do.
What inspired you to start your own theatre company?
Mostly a desire to make something we could be really proud of, and a little frustration too. When you’re a freelance artist of any kind there is often a difficult balance to be found between work that you believe in, feel passionate about, and work that pays the bills. That can be very demoralising and draining. We wanted to make something of our own, something we believed in and could work on from start to finish. Of course when we began we weren’t being paid at all, but it made it easier to go out and do the other jobs, knowing we were coming back to work on something we loved. And happily some other people seemed to love it too, so eventually we were able to begin working for our own company full time!
As a small team, you are each involved in multiple elements of the theatrical process, from the script writing to the puppet making and performance elements. How do you juggle each of the theatrical components when creating a Box Tale Soup production?
You’re wearing different hats, and we try not to let one interfere with the other too much – when we’re writing, our focus is simply on putting together the best script we can, and that approach applies at each stage of production. But making the work from start to finish means that we can really fine tune as we go, whether that’s design tweaks or script edits – nothing is sacred, we’re always happy to make changes if we think the end result will be better.
We really love being involved in all aspects of a show’s creation – it’s one of the things we like most about running a company and making our own work, because, as I said before, you get to see the idea through from start to finish. We put a great deal of time and care into all sides of the show, and because there’s a real consistency of vision, I think that shows in the end product.
What can you tell me about your creative process, from ideation to producing the final puppets?
If you do an internet search for ‘creative process meme’, you get some great results, one of which is a favourite of mine – it’s a hand drawn graph that ends with a very short section labelled ‘all the work while crying’, and I think most artists will relate! Creating a new piece of work is a strange, unique and often very difficult thing, but I absolutely love it. We’re just about experienced enough now to expect those difficult moments – the uncertainty, the self doubt – and to understand that it’s all part of the process, which helps of course. It’s like solving an incredibly intricate, esoteric puzzle, but the satisfaction of finally seeing the right idea click into the right place is immense.
When we start making a new piece of work, we start with the text. We’ll read it, discuss it, think about it, and we’ll also pull all the dialogue out (if there is any) to see if that gives us the seeds of a script. We’ll talk to Dan, our composer, about initial influences and thoughts for the music. Then we’ll start imagining things, drawing sketches and discussing ideas. Most importantly, at this point anything goes – we don’t limit ourselves by what we can afford, what’s physically possible, how many actors we have, and so on. Sometimes the best ideas are refined versions of things that seemed absurd and impossible to begin with! Script writing is perhaps a more tightly focused time, and we tend to work on that intently until we’re happy we have a ‘rehearsal draft’, though nothing is set in stone. If we have the time we might then do some R&D, a few days of playing with ideas in a rehearsal space with mock-up props and puppets. Then we’ll refine the design and start making the set, props and puppets. Finally we go into rehearsal and begin to put all the pieces together, developing movement and performances as we go. Everything can be refined and changed if needed though, and we have lost puppets and set when they didn’t feel right, or rewritten entire sections of the script.
Our work has sometimes been described as dance-like, and I really appreciate that. Ultimately we want everything, the set, the words, the movement, to flow beautifully and work together to serve the story.
‘Casting the Runes’ adapts the renowned ghost story and ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ brings the fantasy adventure to life. Covering two contrasting genres this Fringe, who are your productions aimed at?
First and foremost I’d say both shows are aimed at anyone who loves good theatre. There’s a huge amount of creativity and invention on display. If you’re up for something a bit different, I think the unique puppetry, the transforming sets and the storytelling will really get your attention. People often tell us they’ve never seen anything quite like it!
Obviously if you’re a fan of the original stories then I think you’ll really enjoy our work. We strive to be respectful to the style and atmosphere of the source material, so I hope you’ll be blown away by what we’ve done to bring them to life on stage.
Lovers of ghost stories should have a great time with ‘Casting the Runes’, and anyone with a taste for satire or fantasy (or both) should love ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ – it has original sea shanties too!
What is the biggest challenge with reimagining renowned stories?
Classic stories stand the test of time for a reason. A great ghost story never goes out of fashion, and some of the satire in ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ feels so relevant that it could have been written yesterday. So I believe these stories have a lot to offer.
Adaptation is something of a balancing act. As theatre makers we want to be respectful to the original, not least for the fans who will come to see what you’ve done to their beloved story. But you also have to be aware of the medium you’re working in – some things that might come across in print just won’t play out well on stage. We have to make sure it works dramatically, as a play, and be prepared to make adjustments if necessary. It also has to stand on its own and work for an audience who don’t know the original at all.
Finally, and most importantly of all, it has to feel fresh and exciting. We have to find the essence of what makes a story great, and really make it shine by today’s light.
Having taken both productions to the Edinburgh Fringe previously, to what extent have you made changes to either show for 2024?
We haven’t made major changes, I think you have to resist the temptation to tweak things too much, as it’s possible to ‘overwork the painting’. But we have made a few improvements here and there. Most are little upgrades that we’ve thought of as the shows have been performed. Some are to help us do the two shows back to back – little changes that will save time, making the set easier to assemble or take apart for example. Both shows are in great shape though, and I’m really looking forward to performing them together.
How are you preparing for presenting the two productions at Pleasance, with a tight window between the performance times?
We’re rehearsing both shows of course, making sure everything is up to scratch. The biggest difference though is that we’re also rehearsing the change over! Everybody has specific jobs and everything goes in the right place, in the right order, as we don’t have any time to waste. We’re practising it all exactly, so it should go like clockwork! I think it will be oddly hypnotic, like a weird little mini-show between shows…
I’m looking forward to doing both shows though. It’s the right way round to do them and I think that will be fun. My character in ‘Casting the Runes’ starts off rather well groomed and refined, but by the end he’s been through a terrifying experience and looks quite disturbed. Then ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ begins with a shipwreck, so I feel like that will work out nicely on the acting front and it won’t matter if I look a little unhinged!
2024 will be your third ‘completely paperless’ Fringe, how do you strive for sustainability in your theatre making practices?
Sustainability is important to us, and our work, in several different ways – financially, practically and creatively, as well as environmentally. Although we use recycled, reclaimed and sustainable materials wherever we can, I don’t think you’d necessarily guess that when looking at the set, props and puppets – we put a lot of work into making it look beautiful. But using these materials really adds to the aesthetic, giving a distinctive look and encouraging a resourceful approach. There’s also something special about being able to tell people the beautiful puppet they’ve just seen started life as a frozen pizza box!
The first year we did a ‘paperless’ Fringe, by which we mean we don’t have any physical flyers to hand out or any posters up around town, we were pretty nervous about the idea. But it went down incredibly well. As it happened there was also a bin collection strike that year, and we had many local residents thank us for trying something different, and more and more people coming up to ask about the flyer-free approach. We are, of course, in a fortunate position – we’ve been coming to the Fringe for several years and have established an audience, which makes the job of promoting our work a little easier. For first time companies or newer artists, we realise the same thing may not work. Nonetheless, we’re glad we took the leap of faith and tried something different.
We have a sort of unofficial motto when we’re making a show, ‘Don’t be wasteful, be creative’, and we try to apply that to everything we do, including design, marketing and devising, not just the prop making!
Catching the puppeteers and performers in action at EdFringe
I personally adore the company’s unofficial motto and think that the puppets being made from repurposed materials adds a whole different dimension to the innovation. Box Tale Soup were actually one of fellow performer Julia Bolden’s many recommendations in our recent conversation and she mentioned their “superb mix of live actors and puppetry”. You can catch Noel, Antonia, Adam and the team in action at Pleasance Courtyard – Above (Venue #33) from 31 July to 25 August (not 14th). Casting the Runes begins at 11:35 and Gulliver’s Travels follows at 13:00. Tickets are available via the festival website.
Thanks for reading my blog today.
Love Kat xxxx
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