4 Steve Waters and Tangled Feet: ‘Murmurations’ By Jack Warren
Arts
Photo: Wikimedia Commons in the way it alters how you see the landscape; the fen moves from a static natural beauty spot to a world alive with people’s stories, memories, and emotions both past and present. Passers-by
become
unknowing
extras, and the audience part of the story. At times it feels as though you are a character in a videogame, each interaction a cutscene, venturing along not knowing what the next encounter will be. What Waters has carefully done with Murmurations is demonstrate the importance of landscape in changing the temporal and emotional boundaries
Murmurations is Written by Steve
that are seamlessly stitched together
Waters and directed by Nathan Curry.
by the fen’s atmosphere as part of the
Waters has been working alongside the
performance.
Arts and Humanities Research Council
The
narrative
follows
several
different
for drama and performance to aid the
different relationship to the fen: a
conservation of the natural world. The
farmer’s son, a bereaved woman, her
show was performed at two different
mother, two estate agents, and a couple
locations: The National Trust’s Wicken
of birdwatchers. There are times when
Fen Nature Reserve and the RSPB’s
it is difficult to determine who is part
Strumpshaw Fen Reserve. Part of the
of the play and who just happens to be
beauty of the play is that the place
wandering around the reserve, a feeling
in which you see it will impact your
that would not be possible without the
experience of it, as well as the weather,
careful balance between public and
who was there, and what time it was.
private that Murmurations achieves.
each
with
a
Both places are also the subject of the
Characters appear in various spots in
play, perhaps even characters in their
the landscape, sometimes visible from
own right. The rest of the performers:
a long way away and sometimes not
- Chanice Hird, Emily Eversden, Mario
until the last moment. Murmurations
Christofides, Carl Parkin, and Fiona
is a kind of performance that many will
Watson - are of Tangled Feet, a troop
have never experienced the likes of.
with
a
reputation
performances.
for
site-specific
Murmurations
important ecology is in making these connections to ourselves and each other.
and UEA to explore how it is possible
characters,
in our lives. But specifically, how
As you walk along, sound design
takes
by Guy Connelly and Music by Polly
this concept to a new level. The play is
Wright maintains the atmosphere and
a guided headphone tour that includes
feels like a part of the air in the fen.
audio, visual and poetic mediums
The music is both tormenting and soft
Waters shows us the beautiful points where humans and nature collide and reform. This connection seems to come from a peculiar place of grief. There is grief for the loss of human life as well as grief for something much broader: a grieving for the loss of connection to nature and the many ecosystems that have died or are dying. And so, the play is written about its purpose, to reconnect us with the spaces we take for granted. Before It is too late. A murmuration is a flocking together that birds do to travel over long distances both deterring predators and minimising the amount of energy they expend. As the play points out at one point, nature’s only goal is survival. It
does
not
acknowledge
borders,
cultures, or languages. It seems that through this play, Waters is telling us that we must do the same thing.
