Question. How much fun can be had with two people and a bath tub with ‘Blue Peter’ style costumes and effects? Answer. Loads!!! Pond Wife is a very short and very sweet piece of entertainment, the perfect hors d’oeuvre to a night out that is guaranteed to put you in a good mood.
Holly Norrington and Teddy Lamb are infectious funsters. A performance collaborative that owe as much to art as they do to acting, the result of which is a unique style of making theatre. Armed with only said bath tub, their bodies, a fan and lots of glitter and bubbles; Holly and Ted create a magical world where you want to go and play. Their ingenious mash up of the ‘Little Mermaid’ meets Britney Spears is a feel good fairy tale complete with a cd scaled mermaid tail! In this rendition the mermaid’s quest for love takes her not in search of a man, but in search of the music that speaks to her, a light hearted but poignant look at the importance of music in one’s life.
Holly and Ted’s enthusiasm is boundless and their talent is fresh and original. They make synchronised speech look effortless and their physical comedy is a joy (the interpretation of different musical genres through dance and mime is my personal highlight). It is impressive how they create an underwater world complete with hand jellyfish and light show with such limited props. They have beautiful imaginations and encourage the audience to use theirs. This skilled duo are confident and comfortable. Both wrote and created this fantastical ride that takes us from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the world’s stage and to the super stardom that it entails. Mermaid or walker, who doesn’t have dreams like that? It is the cleverness of tapping into everybody’s childhood fantasy, with an accompanying 90’s soundtrack that forms a connection and provokes a warm nostalgia that makes this low-fi, high fun performance so good.
I left the theatre singing some of their catchy tunes and with a smile on my face, what more could you ask for from a night at the theatre?
Review by Rachel Borland
Illuminate Presents: Pond Wife
It’s 1997, the Spice Girls are at the top of the charts and one fifteen-year-old mermaid is about to discover music for the very first time…
Pond Wife is a radical reimagining of Hans Christian Anderson’s classic fairytale The Little Mermaid, told through the medium of 90’s pop.
With storytelling, a bath tub and cheesy pop, performance collaborative Holly & Ted (Holly Norrington, Teddy Lamb) use lo-fi tech and a casual performance style to reinvent a story that is funny, scientific and magical.
This project was supported by Farnham Maltings’ grant scheme No Strings Attached
Booking to 9th may 2015
https://www.londontheatre1.com/theatres/time-and-leisure-studio/
Friday 8th May 2015