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THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE
GRAND OPERA HOUSE BELFAST
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, a novel by Neil Gaiman, has been adapted for stage by Joel Horwood.
Alex returns to his rural home town to attend his father’s funeral. Whilst there he revisits the area and remembers a childhood friend, Lettie Hempstock who claims the pond at the end of her farmhouse lane is actually an ocean. There he encounters Old Mrs Hempstock, Lettie’s grandmother, and he starts to remember forgotten and extraordinary events from his past.
SCENERY
The curtains are open when we first enter the theatre. On the left and right side of the stage dark, gnarled trunks of trees border a lane converging into the distance at the centre of the stage. The trees remain throughout the performance but are faded out when required.
Furniture is wheeled on to represent both Hettie’s farmhouse kitchen and Alex’s home.
Alex’s kitchen has a plain rectangular table with four straight backed wooden chairs. To the right of the table is a free standing white cooker with an eye level grill where Mick frequently burns the toast. The door is in the centre of the room and these doors are wheeled on and off as required.
Their bathroom has a white bath and a white pedestal wash hand basin with a cabinet and mirror above it. A door is in the centre of the room.
Alex and Em share a bedroom which has two single beds with light coloured covers, a bedside table sits between the beds and another one at the side of Alex’s bed with a reading lamp A square window is wheeled on when Alex wishes to leave the house undetected. The bedroom door has a hook where a dressing gown hangs.
Later on Ursula’s bedroom will have a bed with ragged sheets and covers reflecting her origins as a unclean supernatural being.
The kitchen at Hempstock’s farm has a long trestle table with two large wheels supporting one end. It is draped with a coloured fringed cloth. The chairs have a curved back with arms, and old Mrs Hempstock’s has a cane chair with arm rests and a cushioned seat. An old fashioned sideboard with two pedestal cupboards on each end with a lower section in the middle stands against the wall with a plant in a pot. A small ornate plant stand, on three carved legs sits in front of the sideboard. A rectangular window has a flower pot on the sill. Lanterns hang from the ceiling giving a cosy feeling to the kitchen.
Cast members dressed in black come on stage at various times representing objects in the forest or as obstacles in the storm against which Alex stumbles. When Alex leaps out of his bedroom window the cast lift him and turn him as though he is summersaulting to the ground.
In Act 2 they become the Hunger Birds wearing large beaks attached to their heads and with large black wings attached to their arms that have cobweb like structures. The cast also articulate “the flea” when the supernatural being first enters Alex’s world, as well as working puppets that represent Alex and Lettie when they dive into the ocean.
The waves in Lettie’s ocean are represented by cast members who hold each end of a long flexible metal rod to which is attached a sheet of translucent pliable plastic. As the pole is flexed the effect of a wave is produced very convincingly.
Lighting is very important throughout the performance and is used effectively to give atmosphere which can be frightening or uplifting depending on the scene. When Lettie and Alex enter the ocean the stage is transfused with blue light as though we are looking into the calm waters of a sea. Bright orange lights suffuse the stage to give credence to the supernatural events taking place and the introduction of fog and mist gives a mystical feeling. Add to this the sound effects and we are emerged in a magical landscape.The door frames surrounding the doors themselves are illuminated in a glowing light and are used to illustrate Alex’s frustration as he tries to escape from his house.
All the furniture, including the doors and windows are on wheels and are pushed on and off by the cast when required.
Other props include a cooker, a bath and basin, a metal bucket which becomes an ocean when an expanding metal ring is employed, a Y shaped hazel twig which is used as a wand, a back pack, books, and an old rugged wooden bench that sits at the edge of the duck pond.
Ocean at the End of the Lane
Characters
Charlie Brooks plays Ursula/skarthach, she is perhaps most famous for winning ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ and playing Janine in Eastenders. She is slim with blond, curly, chin-length hair. She has a round face, dark almond-shaped eyes and prominent cheekbones with a button nose, her upper lip is slightly thinner than her lower.
Trevor Fox plays Dad. He is tall and thin with short, greying, brown hair. He wears large glasses, has a high forehead and a long face with quite a large nose. His cheeks are somewhat sunken and neckline jowly.
Millie Hikasa plays Lettie Hempstock. She is of average build and not very tall. She has long, dark hair and large, dark eyes, an oval face and a full mouth.
Kemi-Bo Jacks plays Ginnie Hempstock. She is tall and slim. She has dark hair and eyes. Her long face has a straight nose, prominent cheekbones, a full mouth and slightly dimpled chin.
Laurie Ogden plays Sis. She is average build and height with long, wavy, reddish brown hair. She has a square shaped face with a large forehead and dimpled cheeks.
Keir Ogilvie who plays Boy is long limbed and thin. He has short brown hair, a small pale face with ruddy cheeks, he has smallish eyes, a straight nose and thin lips.
Finty Williams plays Old Mrs Hempstock, she is of average build and not particularly tall with a wide, bent stance and sloped shoulders. Her most distinguishing feature is her very long white-blond hair. She has a heart-shaped face, large, light blue eyes, dimpled cheeks and thin lips.
Costumes
Sam Wyer’s costume designs are intended to create a strong connection or contrast between different characters.
The Hempstocks’ costumes are made from natural fabrics in warm and earthy colours such as brown, ochre and vivid greens. The natural textures and fabrics contrast with the greys and blues worn by the Boy’s family. The rich colours worn by the Hempstocks are also echoed in the richness of the food around them, the candlelight and embroideries of their home.
While Old Mrs Hempstock’s hair is long, wavy grey/blonde and Ginnie and Lettie’s is dark - Ginnie’s tied up in a scarf reminiscent of a land girl or factory worker during the war and Lettie’s tied up in a bouncy ponytail, each Hempstock woman wears a type of plait or braid in her hair made from three strands, which is significant for these three female characters.
Old Mrs Hempstock wears a long hooded coat, an apron over a polo-neck jumper, turned up jeans and boots. Ginnie wears dungarees over a blouse, they are tucked into her socks which are gathered at the ankle above her lace-up boots. Lettie wears a bright raincoat, dark red kicker boots and layered skirts over leggings along with her apron. The Hempstocks’ clothing is less specific to the 1980’s setting than those worn by Alex/ Boy’s family and by the Mnemonics. By keeping a neutral colour palette and natural fabrics for the three women, the way in which they have moved through history and have a much more secure relationship with the earth and world around them is emphasised.
Dad/Mick, Boy’s father, wears a sombre suit and tie with a white shirt, the suit jacket is replaced by a leather jacket or grey cardigan. Em/Sis has long hair in 2 low pig-tails - when we first meet her she wears a white cotton night-shirt, later she wears denim knee-length dungarees over a t-shirt with ankle socks and trainers (these have a subtle pink tone, reflecting Ursula’s influence), then an oversized t-shirt with leggings and finally a school uniform style blue skirt, grey jumper and grey kneesocks.
Alex/ Boy’s costume changes significantly the more he spends time with Lettie and the Hempstock women. His costume starts in pale colours, including a beige jacket and pale blue shorts, but he ends the play wearing a brightly coloured red and blue ensemble. Early on he wears a t-shirt which features a graphic - a subtle reference to a magazine called ‘Arrow’, a literary magazine that was popular in the 1980’s. In this way, his clothing reflects the relationship that he has with reading and with the stories that become a refuge for him. The outfit that the Hempstocks give Alex is deliberately outdated - however, the medieval inspired long sleeved tunic and pixie hood is based on the blue/red colours of popular present-day superheroes.
When we first meet Ursula she wears a pale pink blouse tucked into fitted jeans with low-heeled pointed toe shoes. Her costume becomes more ‘feminine’ with a belted shirt dress and even more so with a long silk robe and knee-length nightie/slip.
The Mnemonics’ costumes reflect the 1980’s setting. Their costumes (black trousers and shirts/t-shirts) are textured in the same way as the set. They have splashes of reflective black texture veining that looks like branches, and water patterns which were screen printed onto the fabric of the costumes in both matt and gloss finishes. They appear as mourners with umbrellas on 2 occasions but in the later scene the umbrellas are broken and twisted and have holes in them. The next time we see that texture is with the Hunger Birds: the designs create a direct line between the mourners and the Hunger Birds. The Hunger Birds puppets are created by huge black wings/arms of shredded plastic, forming pincers, claws and beaks.
Skarthatch is like a huge insect made up of the sorts of things that might be lying in a hedgerow, it also has the hose pipe wound into it from the car. At times it looks like a dead animal, at times you struggle to identify a face or a head, and from this emerges what appears to be a figure trapped in plastic. Both Skarthatch and the Hunger Birds are intended to be very frightening looking - the stuff of nightmares brought scarily to life with strips and rags.
GRAND OPERA HOUSE BELFAST
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, a novel by Neil Gaiman, has been adapted for stage by Joel Horwood.
Alex returns to his rural home town to attend his father’s funeral. Whilst there he revisits the area and remembers a childhood friend, Lettie Hempstock who claims the pond at the end of her farmhouse lane is actually an ocean. There he encounters Old Mrs Hempstock, Lettie’s grandmother, and he starts to remember forgotten and extraordinary events from his past.
SCENERY
The curtains are open when we first enter the theatre. On the left and right side of the stage dark, gnarled trunks of trees border a lane converging into the distance at the centre of the stage. The trees remain throughout the performance but are faded out when required.
Furniture is wheeled on to represent both Hettie’s farmhouse kitchen and Alex’s home.
Alex’s kitchen has a plain rectangular table with four straight backed wooden chairs. To the right of the table is a free standing white cooker with an eye level grill where Mick frequently burns the toast. The door is in the centre of the room and these doors are wheeled on and off as required.
Their bathroom has a white bath and a white pedestal wash hand basin with a cabinet and mirror above it. A door is in the centre of the room.
Alex and Em share a bedroom which has two single beds with light coloured covers, a bedside table sits between the beds and another one at the side of Alex’s bed with a reading lamp A square window is wheeled on when Alex wishes to leave the house undetected. The bedroom door has a hook where a dressing gown hangs.
Later on Ursula’s bedroom will have a bed with ragged sheets and covers reflecting her origins as a unclean supernatural being.
The kitchen at Hempstock’s farm has a long trestle table with two large wheels supporting one end. It is draped with a coloured fringed cloth. The chairs have a curved back with arms, and old Mrs Hempstock’s has a cane chair with arm rests and a cushioned seat. An old fashioned sideboard with two pedestal cupboards on each end with a lower section in the middle stands against the wall with a plant in a pot. A small ornate plant stand, on three carved legs sits in front of the sideboard. A rectangular window has a flower pot on the sill. Lanterns hang from the ceiling giving a cosy feeling to the kitchen.
Cast members dressed in black come on stage at various times representing objects in the forest or as obstacles in the storm against which Alex stumbles. When Alex leaps out of his bedroom window the cast lift him and turn him as though he is summersaulting to the ground.
In Act 2 they become the Hunger Birds wearing large beaks attached to their heads and with large black wings attached to their arms that have cobweb like structures. The cast also articulate “the flea” when the supernatural being first enters Alex’s world, as well as working puppets that represent Alex and Lettie when they dive into the ocean.
The waves in Lettie’s ocean are represented by cast members who hold each end of a long flexible metal rod to which is attached a sheet of translucent pliable plastic. As the pole is flexed the effect of a wave is produced very convincingly.
Lighting is very important throughout the performance and is used effectively to give atmosphere which can be frightening or uplifting depending on the scene. When Lettie and Alex enter the ocean the stage is transfused with blue light as though we are looking into the calm waters of a sea. Bright orange lights suffuse the stage to give credence to the supernatural events taking place and the introduction of fog and mist gives a mystical feeling. Add to this the sound effects and we are emerged in a magical landscape.The door frames surrounding the doors themselves are illuminated in a glowing light and are used to illustrate Alex’s frustration as he tries to escape from his house.
All the furniture, including the doors and windows are on wheels and are pushed on and off by the cast when required.
Other props include a cooker, a bath and basin, a metal bucket which becomes an ocean when an expanding metal ring is employed, a Y shaped hazel twig which is used as a wand, a back pack, books, and an old rugged wooden bench that sits at the edge of the duck pond.
Ocean at the End of the Lane
Characters
Charlie Brooks plays Ursula/skarthach, she is perhaps most famous for winning ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ and playing Janine in Eastenders. She is slim with blond, curly, chin-length hair. She has a round face, dark almond-shaped eyes and prominent cheekbones with a button nose, her upper lip is slightly thinner than her lower.
Trevor Fox plays Dad. He is tall and thin with short, greying, brown hair. He wears large glasses, has a high forehead and a long face with quite a large nose. His cheeks are somewhat sunken and neckline jowly.
Millie Hikasa plays Lettie Hempstock. She is of average build and not very tall. She has long, dark hair and large, dark eyes, an oval face and a full mouth.
Kemi-Bo Jacks plays Ginnie Hempstock. She is tall and slim. She has dark hair and eyes. Her long face has a straight nose, prominent cheekbones, a full mouth and slightly dimpled chin.
Laurie Ogden plays Sis. She is average build and height with long, wavy, reddish brown hair. She has a square shaped face with a large forehead and dimpled cheeks.
Keir Ogilvie who plays Boy is long limbed and thin. He has short brown hair, a small pale face with ruddy cheeks, he has smallish eyes, a straight nose and thin lips.
Finty Williams plays Old Mrs Hempstock, she is of average build and not particularly tall with a wide, bent stance and sloped shoulders. Her most distinguishing feature is her very long white-blond hair. She has a heart-shaped face, large, light blue eyes, dimpled cheeks and thin lips.
Costumes
Sam Wyer’s costume designs are intended to create a strong connection or contrast between different characters.
The Hempstocks’ costumes are made from natural fabrics in warm and earthy colours such as brown, ochre and vivid greens. The natural textures and fabrics contrast with the greys and blues worn by the Boy’s family. The rich colours worn by the Hempstocks are also echoed in the richness of the food around them, the candlelight and embroideries of their home.
While Old Mrs Hempstock’s hair is long, wavy grey/blonde and Ginnie and Lettie’s is dark - Ginnie’s tied up in a scarf reminiscent of a land girl or factory worker during the war and Lettie’s tied up in a bouncy ponytail, each Hempstock woman wears a type of plait or braid in her hair made from three strands, which is significant for these three female characters.
Old Mrs Hempstock wears a long hooded coat, an apron over a polo-neck jumper, turned up jeans and boots. Ginnie wears dungarees over a blouse, they are tucked into her socks which are gathered at the ankle above her lace-up boots. Lettie wears a bright raincoat, dark red kicker boots and layered skirts over leggings along with her apron. The Hempstocks’ clothing is less specific to the 1980’s setting than those worn by Alex/ Boy’s family and by the Mnemonics. By keeping a neutral colour palette and natural fabrics for the three women, the way in which they have moved through history and have a much more secure relationship with the earth and world around them is emphasised.
Dad/Mick, Boy’s father, wears a sombre suit and tie with a white shirt, the suit jacket is replaced by a leather jacket or grey cardigan. Em/Sis has long hair in 2 low pig-tails - when we first meet her she wears a white cotton night-shirt, later she wears denim knee-length dungarees over a t-shirt with ankle socks and trainers (these have a subtle pink tone, reflecting Ursula’s influence), then an oversized t-shirt with leggings and finally a school uniform style blue skirt, grey jumper and grey kneesocks.
Alex/ Boy’s costume changes significantly the more he spends time with Lettie and the Hempstock women. His costume starts in pale colours, including a beige jacket and pale blue shorts, but he ends the play wearing a brightly coloured red and blue ensemble. Early on he wears a t-shirt which features a graphic - a subtle reference to a magazine called ‘Arrow’, a literary magazine that was popular in the 1980’s. In this way, his clothing reflects the relationship that he has with reading and with the stories that become a refuge for him. The outfit that the Hempstocks give Alex is deliberately outdated - however, the medieval inspired long sleeved tunic and pixie hood is based on the blue/red colours of popular present-day superheroes.
When we first meet Ursula she wears a pale pink blouse tucked into fitted jeans with low-heeled pointed toe shoes. Her costume becomes more ‘feminine’ with a belted shirt dress and even more so with a long silk robe and knee-length nightie/slip.
The Mnemonics’ costumes reflect the 1980’s setting. Their costumes (black trousers and shirts/t-shirts) are textured in the same way as the set. They have splashes of reflective black texture veining that looks like branches, and water patterns which were screen printed onto the fabric of the costumes in both matt and gloss finishes. They appear as mourners with umbrellas on 2 occasions but in the later scene the umbrellas are broken and twisted and have holes in them. The next time we see that texture is with the Hunger Birds: the designs create a direct line between the mourners and the Hunger Birds. The Hunger Birds puppets are created by huge black wings/arms of shredded plastic, forming pincers, claws and beaks.
Skarthatch is like a huge insect made up of the sorts of things that might be lying in a hedgerow, it also has the hose pipe wound into it from the car. At times it looks like a dead animal, at times you struggle to identify a face or a head, and from this emerges what appears to be a figure trapped in plastic. Both Skarthatch and the Hunger Birds are intended to be very frightening looking - the stuff of nightmares brought scarily to life with strips and rags.