REVIEW | Stories in the Dust
Written by Penny
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.
Stories in the Dust is a family show, written, composed, devised and performed by Iona Johnson and Anna Harriott. Two travellers are searching for something that is “just around the corner”, journeying across a dry and barren landscape and wishing that it would rain. Harriott’s character seems to be the leader, Johnson is much more childlike and hopeful.
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, it promises to incorporate music, puppetry and clowning to highlight the climate emergency. Unfortunately, in its current form, the piece feels underdeveloped and does not live up to its promise – the music doesn’t add anything and only seems to be there because one of the actors can play a few instruments, there is very little puppetry and I didn’t notice any clowning.
The set and costumes are dull, muted colours and fairly minimalist, reflecting this dystopian future. It does this very effectively but it seems like a strange choice for a play that is trying to appeal to young children. The actors are travelling in some converted shopping trolleys with various things hanging off them – old tins, plastic containers, and rubbish from our time, which to these characters is the distant past.
Finding some tomato seeds, the actors use some of their precious water to try and make them grow. There’s a missed opportunity to say something about self-sufficiency here. The characters are delighted to see that a single tomato has grown – but rather than using its seeds to grow more, they go for the instant gratification of eating it. Longer is spent on sharing a can of cold baked beans. This doesn’t get much of a reaction from the children in the audience, I imagine the idea was for it to be a little more gross than it actually comes across.
The stories of the title are in an old book that the travellers have found – they tell the tale of a lion called Yali, portrayed as a puppet made out of rubbish that they have collected. Unfortunately, the message of the story wasn’t clear as the two actors were so softly spoken that it was hard to follow. More successful was “Captain Ralph”, a cat with a body made from a plastic bottle. The actors’ responses to him were charming and had much more impact, managing to bring home the idea that they were totally alone and using interactions with their puppet to help them on their journey.
As the action takes place in the future, our current traditions are a novelty. Books are a rarity, the characters can’t read properly as when will they have had the opportunity to learn? A birthday celebration - with pretend champagne/fizz, some battered old party hats that are losing their shine, and a present of a bath plug on a piece of string being received as if it’s a precious necklace - was very effective. It’s a really good way of highlighting all the things that we take for granted and is easily the best section of the play. Instead of unearthing more quirky “treasures”, the rest of the journey is a little underwhelming.
As we reach the end of the play, we are about to find out if the rain will come and whether the travellers will reach their destination. There is an extensive educational pack to accompany the show with a huge amount of information in it which looks like a very useful resource for teachers wanting to discuss climate change with younger pupils. It also encourages children to discuss the play, whether the characters found what they were looking for, what happened when they arrived (arrived where?) and to write their own ending. This, for me, sums up where the show in its current format is lacking – the audience is being asked to work too hard, it’s all a bit of a jumble and then the play just fizzles out without a strong conclusion. It’s not clear what the main message is and how the story within the play fits into it all. There are some really good ideas here but a lot more work is needed before it will truly succeed in educating and delighting young audiences.
Stories in the Dust is on tour until 5 Nov 2023.
