Review: THE WIDER EARTH, Natural History Museum

The Naural History Museum unveils a brand new theatre in the Jerwood Gallery with Trish Wadley Productions and Dead Puppet Society's The Wider Earth.

After sold-out seasons in Australia, it's ready to cast its spell on London as well. The coming-of-age play sees a rebellious and pre-beard Charles Darwin embarking on the voyage that will change his (and our) life.

The production finds its perfect home in the museum, with audiences entering through the Darwin Centre (which houses working laboratories as well) and learning about some of the naturalist's studies in a small exhibition before the show starts.

Created by Dead Puppet Society - a visual theatre company based between Australia and the USA and captained by David Morton and Nicholas Paine - The Wider Earth is a tiny marvel itself. Visually, it's stunning: a single set piece placed on a revolve becomes various buildings, the ship, and land after land young Charles lands on.

The thrilling soundscape curated by Tony Brumpton with David Walters' lighting design take the audience on a journey of its own right. A long, round white screen is used to project gorgeous and engaging backdrops useful to set the scenes geographically.

However effective and beautiful to look at, its position presents many blind spots: for instance, people sitting further up might get a clearer view than those sitting closer to the stage, who might miss crucial information about where the scene is taking place.

Bradley Foster places Darwin's curiosity at the top of his qualities. It's immediately clear that it's his love for nature that lead him to his groundbreaking discoveries. He makes it easy to see how he went from a collection of bugs in Cambridge to writing On the Origin of Species.

The supporting cast as a whole succeeds in bringing out Foster's excellence, but it's his head-to-heads with his father (Ian Houghton) and Captain Robert Fitzroy (Jack Parry-Jones) that make him truly well-rounded.

The company goes way beyond the human actors, featuring an exceptionally large number of different puppets. Moved by the performers themselves, the detailed and slightly steampunk-looking machines move just like their real-life match. Their presence on stage doesn't feel foreign at all with their acting counterparts moving in a delicate and natural choreography.

A cohesive and seamless piece, The Wider Earth brings the colourful and exciting world of Charles Darwin to life once again in a show that's going to bewitch experts and laymen alike.

The Wider Earts runs at the Natural History Museum for a limited season until 30 December.

Photo credit: Mark Douet

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