PUBLISHED 10 October 2023
On Thursday 5th October, the Performing Arts department ran a trip to The Lowry to see National Theatre’s, Ocean at the End of the Lane.
The plot for this story is a little complicated, so I've done my best to make it as clear as possible. An unnamed man goes back to his childhood hometown for a funeral. He hasn't been back for twenty years. He meets an elderly lady, who returns some of his childhood memories most of which he has forgotten. The performance then shifts to show all of his memories of a girl named Lettie Hempstock and their journey to defeat the supernatural. Lettie describes the supernatural beings that clutch to the edges of worlds as fleas. Then, when attempting to banish one such flea from crossing over into the human world, the unnamed character of the young boy accidentally creates a wormhole in his hand that allows the flea to cross over. The flea then takes female human form in their world and disguises herself as a woman named Ursula Monkton, who then seduces the father of the young boy. Using her manipulative techniques, she convinces the father to attempt murder of the boy by drowning him in the family bathtub. This is by far one of the most shocking scenes I have ever watched.
Ursula refuses to go back to the edges and so the boy and Lettie and the Hempstock women decide to banish her. Lettie and the boy succeed in banishing Ursula back to the edges but at a great cost. Lettie dies, sacrificing herself for the young boy to live a long life. His memories are then distorted and eventually forgotten. The theme of memory and how memory is lost and changed as we grow is central to this play. If we peel back the layers of this story, at the centre, we find that it's about how children's memories are formed and forgotten when growing up. The other themes are also about abuse and how we cope with loss.
From the very first scene of the show, I was instantly pulled into Neil Gaiman’s (the author) world. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this performance and on the way to watch the show I wondered if a stage performance would be convincingly scary. I was not disappointed and during one particular scene, I was clutching the armrests of my seat. The show had a very sinister and eerie theme running through it, along with some amazing special effects to represent supernatural figures.
Some of my favourite scenes were the ones that had the most sinister intentions. One extremely interesting scene is when Ursula finds the wormhole to their world, and she crosses over through the wormhole in the boy's hand. A seemingly ordinary bathtub is wheeled onto the stage to suggest the location. The boy pulls the worm out in the bathroom and thinks nothing of this but as he isn't looking Ursula's hand climbs up the plughole in the bath. The entire audience audibly gasps after seeing this. This is by far one of the scariest scenes in the whole play. This brilliantly taps into humanity's collective fear of creepy, crawly nasties slithering up the drainpipes.
Another one of my favourite scenes is where the boy is trying to escape through the door. But these doors multiply, and each time one door opens he always finding Ursula is waiting for him. He cannot escape. She is always there. There's a blackout, then lights lift and she's in a different position, traveling the full length and depth of the stage in a matter of seconds. This was very clever, as the director used body doubles to create this creepy effect. The scene and its direction represent that Ursula knows what he is thinking so she feeds off his fear and becomes more powerful.
The special effects of this play were truly phenomenal and the representation of the flea before its human transformation was exceptional. The physicality of the flea was incredibly portrayed and a great representation of the power of an ensemble. It had maybe seven actors moving on stage to represent the flea, each having their own responsibility whilst still moving as one. Although it was a small cast, everyone was used effectively. There were many physical flips and lifts that the young boy did with the aid of the rest of the cast and the physical motions in the show were very fluid and brilliantly choreographed.
The use of music definitely contributed to the unsettling frightening theme and atmosphere. The music used was essential in setting the mood and without it the play would have been less convincing.
The trip itself was so much fun and a wonderful experience and I had a great time.
I also really enjoyed how pupils in year 9 -12 were given free time before the show. During this time, we went around the shopping centre and did some exploring of our own before enjoying our evening meal. Having the opportunity to socialise with my peers like this is just one of many benefits of a trip like this. I want to say thank you to Miss Worthington for making this happen. Thank you also to our Performing Arts Intern, Tia, Matron and Year 12 student Alex for looking after all pupils throughout the trip. I had a really awesome time and cannot wait to go on the next drama trip to learn even more about theatre and performance whilst having even more fun with my friends and peers!
This is a five-star production. I would highly recommend reading the book after seeing the show. I would definitely recommend going on a drama trip next time you have the opportunity!