Guest Blog: Associate Movement Director and Swing Raffaella Covino On A MONSTER CALLS

The name of one of the scenes in our beautiful show is "Life after Death".
It is a truthful reflection of the part of grief, or pre-grief, we often shy away from talking about; that no matter how hard it feels, there is, and can be life after death.

I remember back in 2018 when A Monster Calls was playing at London's Old Vic, it was the talk of the town (which was subsequently affirmed with an Olivier Award win). But having lost my father to cancer as a child, having not read the book or watched the film but instead just read the synopsis of the stage show, I thought...this isn't the show for me to see.

However, there I was on the very last day of performances at the Old Vic, on an impulse, picking up one of the last single day tickets for their matinee. Two and a half hours later, I had watched a piece of theatre that, with no exaggeration, would change my life.

Needless to say, sitting here writing a 'behind the scenes' blog as Associate Movement Director four years on is a very special full circle moment for me.

I now have the privilege of knowing the show so intimately in terms of the nuts and bolts... and chairs and ropes... (you'll get what I mean if you come to see us!). I am reflecting on what it was about this piece of theatre that was so impactful, cathartic and life-affirming for me back in 2018 as an audience member.

I think every good piece of theatre starts with a good story. The powerful coming together of imaginations from the late Siobhan Dowd (who passed away before she could finish this tale), and Patrick Ness who so bravely and passionately finished what she wasn't given time to, have made for a story that has truth, hope and heart at its core.

The original devising company, creatives, designers, and writer in the room brought it from page to stage with those same three ingredients in abundance, and now, we in turn have kept those as our key values (both on- and offstage) as we create this show again.

I hope that those three things will be amongst what audience members take away with them. That the play told the truth so they can too, the reminder that one of life's superpowers is hope and that the show was made for them with care and love.

Let's face it, we don't like thinking about death. We really, really don't. We can often try to shelter children from it too. Despite it being something we all universally connect to. This story, told through the lens of an ordinary yet extraordinary 13-year-old boy, stares that right in the face with vigour, honesty, and imagination.

Patrick writes in his foreword of the novel "So go. Run with it. Make trouble" and that is exactly what the devising company did. With every element of the storytelling, such as movement, music, speech, song, flying, climbing and puppetry, all intrinsically linked together. When you also throw in that the whole company (for the most part) are on stage throughout the entire piece, and tackling the subject matter, it can make you think... well, where do you begin in rehearsals? (Which was most certainly a thought whirling round my head at 1am before the first day.)

For us, mental wellbeing has been at the forefront during our process thus far, and we have aimed to create a playroom during rehearsals. And that's not just in relation to our epic climbing frame of a set, all our ropes and flying equipment, but in the sense that everyone, from every department, has been encouraged and allowed to play, fail, fall over (safely), make mistakes (apart from when clipping someone in to fly), cry, laugh and explore the story in their own unique way. I think that is the only way to make theatre - with the human first and the job role second.

So come. Run with us. Let's make trouble.

A Monster Calls is at the Rose Theatre Kingston 24 March-9 April

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

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