The Forest

A thrilling performance for everyone age 4 and over, combining dance, images, sound and light

October 2009- May 2010

Creative Team

Choreographed by
David Harradine

Directed by
David Harradine & Samantha Butler

Music & Sound composition
Jamie McCarthy

Lighting Design
Hansjorg Schmidt

Production Manager
Ali Beale

Stage Manager
Beth Hoare-Barnes

Technical Stage Manager
Bethan Mair-Hughes

Performers
Robin Dingemans
Sachi Kimura
Petra Soor

The Forest toured to Lyric, Hammersmith; Juice Festival at Dance City, Newcastle; Lincoln Performing Arts Centre; Brighton Dome; Young Vic, London; Corn Exchange, Newbury; Opera North, Leeds; DanceXchange at British Dance Edition 2010, Birmingham; Bristol Old Vic; Sadler’s Wells, London; Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham; Warwick Arts Centre; Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

The Forest was the first piece in a series of projects for children that explore different kinds of landscape. It explored forests as places of transformation and change; places where you encounter things that are not quite what they seem; places where you become lost; where scale, distance and time are confused; and places where we encounter animals and light and darkness and weather.

Inspired by the forests we know from myth and fairytale, by the real forests that pepper the UK, and by the forests of our imaginations, it played with light and sound and combined things from the natural world (conkers, pine cones, leaves, birdsong, people, trees) with a set made of metal, mirror and glass. It is the first dance-based piece Fevered Sleep has made for children, aimed at children aged 3 to 7.

Strikingly visual and full of movement, light and sound, The Forest was contemporary dance theatre that combines skilful performance with a specially commissioned soundscape and inventive design.

“Fevered Sleep is a brilliant company, so head for The Forest whether or not you’ve got a child aged 3-7. The Forest treats its audience with respect and intelligence, recognising that small doesn’t have to mean small-minded or obvious. The show is like a beautiful object that is constantly assembled and reassembled by its playful cast.”
The Guardian ****

“Exquisite…It’s like a dream of a night in a forest. There’s a grace to this show that captivated and moved me.”
The Times ****

“Those who lament the overbearing presence of the high-tech in children’s lives will be enchanted by The Forest”
Evening Standard ****

“A set that would be at home in Tate Modern”
The Sunday Times ****

“A beguiling show that draws on small children’s capacity to play.”
The Financial Times ****

“There’s an ethereal beauty about this delicately-choreographed piece.”
The Stage

“This is clearly the future of young people’s theatre: collaborative, spatial, experiential.”
Review Gate

“A treat for the imagination and the senses.”
British Theatre Guide