Giving ‘Snow Goose’ wings on stage
THIS stunning adaptation of Paul Gallico’s hauntingly evocative short story, The Snow Goose, is a joy to watch.
The idea of putting a story of this nature on stage could well be a challenge for many. Set in a small British village on the marshes of Essex, it focuses on a quirky lighthouse keeper and a younger girl who befriend each other in the 1930s when a wounded snow goose brings the unlikely pair together.
On the eve of World WarII young Frith lives with her widowed father, and recluse Philip Rhayader lives an alienated life slightly away from the gossiping village locals.
The story is brought alive vividly by theatre-makers from Contagious Theatre. Just two seasoned and highly talented actors, James Cairns and Taryn Bennet, appear on stage under the superb direction of Jenine Collocott.
Collocott is also the person responsible for making the masks that the pair wear, to skilfully and deftly portray the other characters they play.
The stage is sparsely set, and with the savvy use of minimal props becomes the village, the house of Frith and her father, the post office and the lighthouse.
Wooden slatted boxes are the chairs; they become part of the boat the lighthouse keeper uses, and a single small wooden table turned on its side becomes the frame of the boat.
But it’s to the credit of Collocott and the two actors that such a deeply gripping drama unfolds, peppered with a whimsical sense of humour, wonder and also sadness.
Rhayader is as much alienated as viewed as the other – made fun of by the villagers, not least because of a limp hand and his different ways. His friendship with the girl is viewed askew – what is an older man doing with a younger girl? Heads nod and tongues wag. But the two are undeterred and appear to share a common bond over and above care for the wounded goose.
Over all this looms the war, skilfully brought in by two BBC announcers who draw the horrors of the impending Nazi onslaught nearer and nearer. Soldiers enlist and eventually are on the front line – again played by the pair, heroically and tragically. As the war intensifies, French and British soldiers are stranded at Dunkirk – many heroically rescued by Rhayader, who plies back and forth in his boat.
He, too, succumbs to the horrors of war, but his soul lives within the snow goose. It’s a truly magical production that lingers long afterwards. It will bring a gentle smile, and more than a tear or two, to the eye.