Award-winning Darwin drama The Wider Earth has announced its cast which features War Horse actors, Ian Houghton, Andrew Bridgmont and Matt Tait. Written and directed by Dead Puppet Society’s Creative Director David Morton, The Wider Earth was initially conceived in 2013 in Cape Town during a mentorship with Handspring Puppet Company, the creative team behind War Horse.
This visually spectacular production features 30 extraordinary puppets representing the tropical wildlife Darwin encountered on his voyage. The production will have its European premiere in the first performance theatre ever to be built at the Natural History Museum.
This coming-of-age story follows a rebellious young Darwin, played by Bradley Foster, who aged only 22, set out on an intrepid five-year voyage on HMS Beagle to distant and exotic lands. These incredible hand-made puppets are as much the stars of the show as the stellar cast who will bring them to life.
From tiny Galápagos finches, to giant tortoises and a fossilised glyptodon, the puppets have been made following observations in the field and extensive analysis of anatomical drawings. Created over the past two years, the puppets have now had their final stages of fabrication and modification at the Darwin Centre in the Natural History Museum.
Nicholas Paine and David Morton of Dead Puppet Society comment, “what makes this work special is its unique approach to storytelling, casting talented actors to play famous historical figures, who bring to life an array of incredible creatures through masterful puppetry. We’re thrilled to be working with our original Australian creative team of Composers and Designers to stage The Wider Earth in such an incredible building.
The new 357-seat theatre, built for the first time in the Jerwood Gallery, will allow audiences to enter the Museum after dark and pass the cutting-edge Darwin Centre, a working scientific laboratory full of zoological specimens including those collected by Darwin on his voyage. Led by paleobiologist Professor Adrian Lister, author of Darwin’s Fossils, the Museum’s scientists are working closely with the creative producers.
The full cast comprises Ian Houghton, Andrew Bridgmont, Matt Tait, Bradley Foster, Jack Parry Jones, Marcello Cruz, Melissa Vaughan, Rory Fairbairn and Kim Scopes.
The Wider Earth is presented by Trish Wadley Productions and Dead Puppet Society in association with Glass Half Full Productions.
The Wider earth is at The Natural History Museum 2nd – 30th October 2018.
