Sanctuary at Edinburgh Fringe 2013

SANCTUARY 

At Edinburgh Fringe Festival 12 -14, 16 August 2013

"McFarlane and his Black Dingo Productions should be commended for the emotional honesty shown here" - Annals of Edinburgh, Thom Dibdin

Photographs by Sam Baxter

Sanctuary is a play I directed and designed for Edinburgh's Leith Festival in June, written by David McFarlane of Black Dingo Productions and starring Cara Louise Wickes as Janet and David Rob as Michael. After the Leith run of the play we did some re-writes and re direction. We created something even stronger for Just Festivals line up in St John's Churches Chapel as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2013.

"Sanctuary deals with a young man's guilt over a relationship breakdown and the difficult circumstances surrounding it. A subtle exploration of lives unformed, the play introduces Michael and Janet as young sketches of themselves. A shock wave surges through their romantic bubble and neither is able to deal honestly with the enormity of what has happened to them - until it's too late".  David McFarlane.

Initially the set was intended to be a reference to Michaels surroundings: at first, when he is deeply in love, he barely notices them and all he can see is Janet. But as the relationships gradually crumbles his surroundings merge into Janet and everything becomes confused and un-clear.

We used acetate boxes to create the set. As the play goes on Janet brings on more and more of her things, all of which are brightly coloured. In climax the set is destroyed by Michael. We planned to fill the acetate boxes with Janet's things as symbols of memories she leaves behind. This was so that at the end of the play when Janet leaves, Michael is left in his broken down sanctuary  and surrounded by the ever lasting impression and memory of Janet.

The white nettings were a continuation from the last show however this time we used them differently. The words "clean and clinical" resonated with Michaels acetate box surroundings and the curtains as they were pulled back and forth on their hooks resembled hospital curtains. 

And so our set became something that slowly showed itself to be a hospital or at least the vague memory of the hospital Michael would have of it.

This time round the play focussed more on the characters. We gave Janet more depth and the characters more of a chance to show why they loved one another.

This made their demise more believable and heart breaking. What is so beautiful about this play is it is true to life - nothing really breaks them apart, not even the abortion. It is simply a result fo life and time.

We used Lana Del Rey's Disco to play pre and post show and also for the shows scene transitions. 

Everytime I watched this show I was sucked into the world and immeresed in the beautifully real and recogniseable relationship portrayed on stage. And it wasnt because of my direction or set, it was because of Cara Louise Wickes and Dave Rob and their poweful performances on stage. The two captivated the audience - made us believe in their banal existence and then feel their hearts break at the end. 

Rather, it focuses on the relationship at the heart of the matter and presents it in its uncomfortably believable, fragile glory" - Broadway Baby

For more photos please see The Two Leaves on Flickr

With thanks to Sam Baxter who acted as AD.