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!

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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©