Semaphore: Sending out an SOS
On 17th May Hastings celebrated the relaxation of Lockdown
with its first large live event, Semaphore, a site-specific blend of live and digital, of sound, light, fire and performance on the beach. A sequence of seven choreographed performances wove together sound install-ation, film, spoken word theatre, clowning and fire as the production built towards a spectacular and moving ending.
CREDIT: Craig Penfold
500 people came to enjoy the immersive mix of live performance, pre-recorded original music and film streamed simultaneously to their mobile phones. Several hundred others watched it online.
Semaphore was created by MSL Projects and directed by Margaret Sheehy, who describes it as “A hypnotic, interactive experience with many parts, exploring what it means to be human on a changing planet.” More than thirty talented local artists and performers worked together to create the show, including Kevin Grist, who created a binaural or 3D sound installation to accompany the setting sun; Christine Harmar-Brown whose script told a parable of Poseidon’s fury at the damage done to his seas by humanity’s carelessness; Andrew Davies and Sophie Page Hall, whose short film of the earth goddess Gaia against empty Sussex landscapes was projected onto screens on the beach; Jane Bruce, Mary Hooper and Rebecca Child, of Radiator Arts, who created masks and costumes. Digital production and effects were delivered by Hastings-based SOS Productions and Margate company, PRICKIMAGE Video.
CREDIT: Claire Symes
Semaphore messages with flags and light batons were choreographed by Charlie Abrahams and performed by 14 young people from the White Rock Theatre Drama Group. Other professional performers took on the roles of the gods, mortals and satyrs. Altogether, close to a hundred people were involved in one way or another in staging the performance.
CREDIT: Cathy Teasdale
Because of the pandemic, the show was prepared and rehearsed via Zoom. It made innovative use of digital technology to reach two audiences simultaneously: a socially distanced live audience spread along the beach and online audiences at home. Links to a live webinar and text messages were sent to audience’s phones and computers. Hastings company, Technology Box, was commissioned to extend the seafront WiFi and performers were guided by radio. A highlight of the evening was Hastings Calling, where videoed messages from some of the 27 other Hastings around the world, including France, Nova Scotia, and Sierra Leone, gathered and recorded by Reece Shepherd, were embedded in the performance.
• If you didn’t make the live performance, a recording
will be available soon at mslprojects.co.uk
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