Pericles

This was the easiest and most enjoyable experience I have had of adapting and directing for Flute. For one simple reason: the strength and talent of the existing company, for whom I adapted the play. We had been through the pandemic together, working every day online for a year and a half, and we had come out the other side with desire, trust, and humour.

We already had a production of Pericles for autistic people, so we knew the play. Josh Welch and Tash Haward had talked about their understanding of loss (both lost parents whilst they were still children). It was a complete joy to direct them as Pericles and Thaisa (and Marina) and watch them blossom.

Cerimon was inspired by Mohit Mathur. In 2021, we had come back to real-space performances, including working with profoundly autistic individuals as part of our community project. One hot summer afternoon, we were playing with rhythms; I was drumming in a corner and there were perhaps six people in the room. One child stayed in a corner, seemingly lifeless, his sensory overload preventing him from being touched; if you got too close, he would kick and scratch.

From nowhere, Mohit seemed to reach inside the aura of the child, took his hands, and began to dance him to life. The child showed no resistance and partnered Mo around the room, allowing himself to be lifted from the ground, stamp in rhythms, and be fully engaged as a couple. It felt miraculous.

When we came to create the sequence in Pericles when Thaisa is brought back to life by Cerimon, I cut nearly all Shakespeare’s words, other than “She lives!” — and we danced her back from the dead.