MALINA'S
DREAM
A
spell-binding show about friendship and finding the way
between two worlds.

Malina is an
excitable young girl who lives with Grandpa in the land of
the midnight sun. Into her frozen world comes dream,
and in that dream comes a stranger, whose ship is crushed
in the ice.
When Malina discovers her dream has become real she knows
only she can save the stranger's life...with just a little
help from Grandpa and his magic drum!
This is a family show for anyone over 4 years.
Breath-taking puppets (including shadow puppetry), live
music and a specially commissioned soundtrack create an
unforgettable experience of magical theatre.

THE INSPIRATION FOR MALINA'S DREAM:
My Great grand-father was called William Kinchin and he was
born at sea in 1864. In later life he became a whaler! My
dad told me just a few anecdotal things about him: He used
to catch a ship out of London (where he lived), head up the
east coast to one of the Northern or Scottish ports and
'sign-on' with a whaling ship, bound for the Arctic waters,
around Greenland.
Here, before the days of political correctness and our wish
to protect whales as the incredible animals they are my
Great grand-father experienced the hard but at times
exhilarating life that was the whaler's lot.
By the time he was whaling at the turn of the 20th century
the whaling industry in Northern waters was in terminal
decline. For several centuries the Greenland Whale had been
hunted for both its blubber, which was made into a valuable
oil for industry and for its baleen. This hung in great
plates inside the whale's mouth and acted like a giant
filter. Because of its tough, springy nature this
'whalebone' was used for making all sorts of things
including carriage springs, walking canes and fishing rods;
but principally was used for the ribbing in ladies'
corsets! Such hunting, supported by high market prices had
all but reduced the numbers of Greenland Whale to the point
of extinction. In the following decades, with the advent of
more efficient 'factory' ships the hunt shifted south to
the Antarctic.
But when my Great-grand father was alive he was sailing
north on masted ships and the actual pursuit of the whale
was still carried out in whale-boats with a crew of six
men. Once the whale was close-to the harpooner would have
the opportunity to play his part, throwing the harpoon at
dangerously close quarters. This was the moment when not
infrequently a boat and it's crew could be obliterated by a
terrific lash of the whale's tail! And even when the whale
was 'fast' -attached to the boat by the long rope fixed to
the harpoon- the chase had only just begun.
A whale would dive to great depths to escape and only by
allowing the rope to play itself out would the men avoid
being pulled down to Davy Jones' Locker! A 'fast' whale
would then literally drag a boat until, exhausted, it
surfaced and was dispatched by the harpooner. But this
life-and- death struggle was not measured in a matter of
minutes, but hours: One man wrote of being held 'fast' to a
whale for six hours, and that it dragged them over a
distance of 15 miles!
It was the stuff of Moby Dick!
My dad told me how my Great grand father would be away 'at
sea' for over 4 months at a time and when he returned his
wife would literally have to tear the boots off his feet,
having never once been taken off in all that time because
of the cold!
***

It was while I
was looking at this part of my family history that I came
upon the little known story of the whalers' contact with
the indigenous cultures of the Arctic.
The perils of sailing in wooden-hulled ships in such
northerly latitudes, amidst unpredictable, ever shifting
pack-ice meant that many ships succumbed to what was known
in the trade as being 'nipped'. The fate of most of these
lie beneath the waters of places like Davis Strait,
Cumberland Sound or Melville Bay. 40 ships from the port of
Dundee alone met this fate. It was an 'occupational hazard'
any man 'signing on' as part of a whaling crew would be all
too aware of.
The stranded survivors of these ships had no choice but to
set off in their open whale boats and make a perilous
journey of several hundred miles across ice and open water
to the nearest 'settlement'. They faced hunger, starvation,
freezing fog, frost-bite, attacks from polar bears, despair
and death. There are several historical accounts of such
journeys and they make for epic examples of human
endurance!
But in my research I discovered too that stranded whalers
were often found and 'taken-in' by small Inuit communities,
themselves living on the knife-edge of existence as they
struggled through the winter. This contact with the Inuit
caught my curiosity and, as I have always been fascinated
by Inuit art, I looked into it more.
I came upon the fact that the Inuit and the whalers not
only shared times of peril and adversity but that they had
a long-standing relationship in their shared pursuit of the
whale. Indeed, I was to discover that it was common
practice for Scottish and American whaling ships to stop
off at Inuit communities in the Spring and take on board
Inuit hunters. Their knowledge of the Arctic waters, the
migratory patterns of the whales and their skills as
harpooners was without equal. But it would not only be the
Inuit men who would join the whalers at the start of the
season- aboard ship would come their womenfolk, children,
huskies, sledges, kayaks and everything to make a home away
from home!
On the whole this relationship between the two cultures
-from the historical records and personal accounts from
both sides- seems to have been one of mutual respect,
curiosity and well-meaning good-will. Of course, in joining
the whalers and fore-going their traditional summer hunting
practice the Inuit disrupted forever long-held, nomadic
patterns: And sadly, the eventual collapse of the whale
stock left the whaling industry without a reason to send
ships North and the Inuit on their own again.
But for the two or three centuries while it lasted the
relationship was forged and forged strongly: No Inuit was
press-ganged into hunting whales; each family of a hunter
was 'paid' with goods, food, equipment and even longboats
for their services; there was an openness and equality from
being literally 'all in the same boat' and there was no
attempt to convert or repress traditional beliefs. Even
today in Arctic communities a get-together may well include
Scottish jigs and dances, played on accordions and
concertinas that were first given to members of the
community several generations back!
I don't unfortunately know if my Great grand-father met any
Inuit himself on one of his long travels, but I like to
think maybe he did. And it is from this thought that
Malina's Dream has emerged.
***

Malina's
premiere at Mt. Pleasant Eco Park, Cornwall. Photos: Mark
Falmouth©
THE MAKING OF MALINA'S DREAM:
Once again we
are using rod puppets for our three human characters-
Malina, Grandpa and Samuel. As with Mr Oshima and Mr
Kurokuchi (from Oshima and the Big Sea) I did not do any
preparatory drawings, but instead carved them 'free-hand',
letting their characters emerge from the blocks of
lime-wood. As a result and without intending it Grandpa has
a passing resemblance to Albert Einstein! But I find this
amusing: Grandpa is an old shaman- a little rough round the
edges, but essentially a kind-hearted soul- who has good
knowledge of the ways of the spirit. Albert Einstein was a
good natured man whose character and genius has led science
towards a more quantum level, where, more and more it
seems, behind matter there lies only energy. So I reckon
Grandpa and Einstein would enjoy a good old chin-wag if
ever they met!
***
All the costumes
have been beautifully created by Lisa Green a textile
artist here in Devon. Her work in bringing an authenticity
to the characters has been matched only by her attention to
detail and fine finish. To make full-body costumes for
puppets in real leather that are both beautiful and
practical (being puppets they have to have good movement)
is a real skill.
Lisa has also collaborated extensively in creating the
animals that appear in the show. Her penguin chick and
walrus are real comic characters! And Nanuk, the 'ice bear'
is, as one reviewer stated, 'impressive'.
By the way, WE KNOW THAT YOU DON'T GET PENGUINS IN THE
ARCTIC. This came about when I was designing the publicity
material and initially included an image of a penguin- just
shows one is always learning!- But when this was pointed
out I thought, "Oh!...well. This is puppetry-we can have a
'lost penguin'!
The set-dressing is Lisa's patient work as well and with
our lighting gives the right impression of the Arctic's
openness and simple beauty.
***
We have included
two shadow sequences in the show that convey 'the land of
dreams'. Shadow puppetry has become a trademark feature of
ours and I wanted to do something more with it this time.
There are 20 shadow puppets and with just two of us it's
quite a handful back-stage! The two sequences: Malina's
dream itself and Grandpa's journey into 'the land of
dreams' are both 5 minutes long. I was a little worried
about attention spans in younger children, but I wanted to
'push the boat out' a little. I think we have got it about
right and have included live vocalization, as well as the
soundtrack, to add to the puppetry. Shadow puppetry is not
a common art-form in children's lives, but is an exciting
'alternative' to 'dead'-screen TV animation- it requires
more from the viewer but it's sense of 'being-there magic'
I think is more rewarding.
To further
interest young viewers it's worth mentioning that when I
came to designing 'the spirits' that appear in 'the land of
dreams' I had a problem: I wanted them to be weird but not
too scary. I tried drawing some but they didn't look
right-a little too contrived.
"Hmmm...I know, I'll let my 4 year old son design them!" So
by giving him lots of card and reminding him not to do too
many lines as I had to cut round it all he came up with
what you see on the screen! He is at that age where he is
not trying to draw things 'correctly': he's just drawing in
a delightfully fluid uncensored way and the results are
weird, very funny and just a little bit naughty!
***
For Malina's
Dream we have also 'pushed the boat out' in another
direction and have added an extensive soundtrack. For me
the obvious and immediate person to create this was Rachel
Miller. I have known Rachel since our days working together
with Puppetcraft. In her own right she is an accomplished
musician, story-teller and composer. More crucially she has
travelled in the Arctic Circle and met with Sami musicians
from Northern Sweden.
Her deep appreciation of the Arctic landscape, it's natural
sound-scapes and traditional music; as well as her
understanding of what makes for a good piece of
story-telling have brought a beautiful and atmospheric
texture to the show.
***
And in
performance I am lucky to be working once again with Ella
Turk-Richards, whose dedication and commitment AND great
sense of fun is such a bonus to the company. As with Oshima
and the Big Sea Ella will again be singing as part of her
performance (as indeed I will be- but that's probably
nothing to get too excited about!)
Ella will also be playing a vintage Lachenal
Anglo-concertina, circa 1928- very much what would have
been played by whalers on board ship. We have made a scaled
down replica of this for Samuel, our sailor, to 'play'
alongside Ella.
***
Sharing the role
with Ella we are joined by Roz Hilton who 'is toe-ing the
ice' into the world of puppetry, yet with a natural
affinity for it that will bring a great playfull-ness to
her role.
***
Our thanks to
the following people whose contribution all helped in
bringing Malina's Dream to reality:
Mick Bramich- for letting us record some of his fine
concertina playing for the soundtrack, known now as Mick's
Tune'!
Nigel Sture- For restoring the vintage Lachenal
Anglo-concertina that we use in the show.
Toby Richardson- for once again doing such a sterling job
on the design and lay-out for the publicity material.
Kingfisher Print & Design, Totnes- for seeing the job
through (despite difficulties!) to deliver great quality
posters and fliers.
Rachel Jennings and Tina Powell for additional fabric work,
including the bags for carrying our sets and Samuel's
bonnie red hat!
Carole Richardson for financial assistance when 'the well
ran dry'. And for the eternal-maternal encouragement!
And finally my
Great grand-pappy and all the whales of the world!
"THAR SHE
BLOWS!"
Photo: Mark
Falmouth©
