Mycelium Theatre Company’s A Microscopic Odyssey at Pleasance Courtyard, Beside, weaves shadow puppets, light manipulation, bumping music, dance and physical theatre to tell the story of microbiologist James Weiss, who, according to the internet, makes YouTube videos (no jokes about going viral here, he is apparently more interested in ‘water bears’ or tardigrades). This show, as the company says in their press release, transforms small worlds into vivid and epic stories.
There are verbatim theatre aspects to this show, but as a devised performance work, A Microscopic Odyssey takes snippets from Weiss’ life and turns them into deeply expressive stage pictures and living, human-based sculptures. Moments from his early life suffering abuse from his father, suffering a massive earthquake, discovering the stars, playing in his backyard or in the woods, and lecturing about the life cycles of water bears. Each scene offers a moment of discovery, from small to massive, ultimately expressed in live projection using an overhead projector, or tricks of the light, or dance. Young James plays at being an astronaut; he discovers the dim seventh sister in the Seven Sisters constellation and dances to ‘twinkle’ back at her; he falls in love; he suffers flashbacks; and, finally, he discovers microscopic life in a sample of pond water, enchanting him and setting him on a path to reinvigorate his own life.
While there are beautiful effects integrating the overhead projector, including shadow puppetry and slideshows, the most entrancing parts occur when the cast of four (Ben Boulton-Jones as James Weiss, Allie-Rae Fossum in Ensemble, Elijah Bai Bangura in Ensemble, and Greta Abbey in Ensemble) entwine themselves to create the shapes that make up Weiss’ passions. In a childhood flashback, they gather to create a tree, from roots to branches, swaying in the wind. Their penultimate scene leads to a group dance of shapes inspired by microorganisms in Weiss’ slides, which eventually turns into a dance party to illustrate the vibrance of life on this planet.
Directed by Hope Wishard, A Microscopic Odyssey makes the most of every stage component. I will note, I had a perfect view of everything onstage, and I do worry some of the more ground-level smaller projector-slide elements might be missed by audiences sitting in the back row. That’s a struggle of some Fringe venues, though; you can work around it as best you can, but compromises must be made.
If you’re seeking to reignite your childlike wonder, A Microscopic Odyssey is for you.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
