FAERIE FARMING
Mortal Coil Performance Society known for outdoor site-specific productions
Mortal Coil troupe brings puppets and music to Richmond’s The Sharing Farm for the family-oriented Faerie Play.
The Faerie Play Aug. 8 to 15 | The Sharing Farm
Tickets and info: from $5 at brownpapertickets.com
It’s not often you run into a wild predator while rehearsing for a play, but for The Faerie Play director Peter Hall, it’s all in a day’s work.
Hall is the co-artistic director of Mortal Coil Performance Society, a company known for outdoor site-specific works such as the 2011 hit Salmon Row. When a coyote wandered into his path during rehearsals for the company’s newest production at The Sharing Farm in Richmond, he did his best to remain calm.
“I was like, ‘Oh hello,’ ” he says without embellishment. “He just took his time and sauntered off.”
It’s just the sort of encounter that might take place in the play itself, a puppet-powered romp about a children’s theatre company whose production is interrupted when fairies steal away one of its members, prompting a merry chase through a real working farm.
The show, aimed at children and families, was originally mounted 12 years ago on an organic farm in the Interior by performers Lois Anderson and Cathy Stubbington who conceived it as an opportunity to bring their own kids onto the stage.
They wrote it to work in concert with whatever environment it explored, giving audiences a whimsical glimpse inside the drama of the natural world that brings them their food.
For this production, the play’s setting is a small organic farm with the mission of bringing fresh produce to low-income families through the Richmond Food Bank. But every farm is different, so Sharing Farm executive director James Gates and his staff of volunteers quickly became unofficial advisers to the production, introducing the Mortal Coil creative team to the particular dynamics of their location in Terra Nova Rural Park.
A bit of comedy in the show comes from the tension between the local vole population and the farm. The city introduced the mice-like creatures to a woodlot next door in order to nurture the local population of raptors such as Cooper’s hawks and owls.
“Great for the raptors, but the voles eat some of the vegetables,” says Gates. “It’s a bit of a competing value, but it’s not unusual for farms to lose some of their crops to critters.”
Gates says that the company’s presence has brought a real buzz to the busy farm. “Every day for the last week and a half, we’ve had this musical experience at the farm,” he says. “We’re hearing the accordion and children singing. I’ve seen some of the puppets and they’re just incredible.”
Given the show’s exploration of the natural world, it made perfect sense to partner with the original inhabitants of the land, the local indigenous community. Mortal Coil reached out to the Tsatsu Stalqayu Coastal Wolfpack dance group who will not only perform in the play, but have also wound up having a huge influence on its esthetic.
Carver Joseph Paul, who is also a cast member, and designer Iona Dan worked with puppet master Frank Rader to bring to life the many creatures that inhabit the farm.
Hall says it’s important that a Mortal Coil production reflects the diversity of its setting. That’s why the company also went to the Gateway Theatre to find local children performers from many different backgrounds.
“It’s very much a community show,” says Hall.
That community building will continue after each show with an informal reception where audience members can purchase snacks made by Chef Ian Lai and ask questions of cast and crew as well as Sharing Farm staff.
Chances are the coyotes will shy away from the crowds, but Hall says audiences should prepare for an encounter with some forces of nature. Bring a hat for the afternoon performances and a jacket for the evening.
“It’s a very safe environment,” says Hall. “But at the same time it remains a working farm, so there’s no huge effort to Disney-fy it. There’s bees about and there’s mosquitoes. We warn people about the mosquitoes and we have repellent if people want to use it.”