Morpurgo tale of magic and self-discovery

The heady mysteries of Arthurian myth provide a dynamic backdrop to this story about a ten-year-old boy that’s as poignant as it is boisterous. Bun is a child who devours books whole, the kind who fights giants, slays dragons and saves the world before breakfast, yet everything in his life changes when he goes blind after a freak diving accident.

Tatty Hennessy’s buoyant script takes several liberties, not just with Malory but with the book written by Michael Morpurgo on which the play is based. In 2007 Morpurgo’s book War Horse famously inspired one of the most successful theatrical productions of all time; while this is a different proposition, it equally demonstrates how the imagination can trump the visible world around us.

Lucy Jane Atkinson’s production is set in Bun’s — deceptively tidy — bedroom, complete with a bookcase with a model sailing boat on it and a gargantuan cassette player at the end of the bed. Aarian Mehrabani’s confident, impetuous Bun leads a narrative that’s appropriately as accessible to the visually impaired as to those who can see. Nifty effects — skilfully set up by the sound designer Xavier Velastín — include a microphone above a bucket of water for the sea, the scrunching of cassette tape for feet on grass, and audience members trying, somewhat painfully, to mewl like seagulls.

In Morpurgo’s book, Bun’s life is dominated by the crush he has on his friend’s big sister Anna; here Hennessy reinvents it as a friendship of equals, in which Anna’s a fellow nerd. Tika Mu’tamir has a strong, easygoing stage presence and is utterly credible as the astronomy-obsessed teenager who helps Bun to rebuild his life while wrestling with the guilt that she encouraged him to do the dive that led to the accident.

The third cast member — Kirsty Ferriggi — is the only actor who is visually impaired in real life. Here she takes on the challenge of playing everyone from Bun’s fisherman father to King Arthur. In the mythical adventure that unravels around Bun’s encounter with the legendary monarch, Arthur draws a poignant parallel between Bun’s accident and his own drawing of the sword from the stone. “Why me?” he asks. “Sometimes there is no why. My whole life changed in an instant.”

It’s a stirring moment in a production that’s both down-to-earth and upbeat. A tonic for all children looking for an imaginative walk on the wild side.

RACHEL HALLIBURTON

Morpurgo fable transformed into scrapbook of wonder

Michael Morpurgo’s enchanting 2002 take on Arthurian legend follows 10-year-old Bun as he comes to terms with sudden blindness after a head injury. Adapted for the stage by Tatty Hennessy, this production takes the fabled charm of Morpurgo’s novel – set in Bryher in the Isles of Scilly – and pushes it further, transforming it into a sensory adventure.

First we are greeted by a disembodied audiobook narrator who describes the intricacies of the baby blue bedroom set, designed by Louise Worrall. Here, Bun (Aarian Mehrabani) plans to record his own original story on a cassette, with the help of Viv (Kirsty Ferriggi), his SEN teacher, and his friend Anna (Tika Mu’Tamir). This story is a mythical journey where the happenings of Bun’s favourite book, The Legend of King Arthur, start to creep into his reality, eventually helping him to accept that his life “is only just beginning”.

The production, directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson, becomes an inclusive scrapbook of wonder. There are surtitles, audio explanations built into the narrative and facts about blindness to educate us. The world of Bun’s account is created by live sound effects. A leather jacket is creatively shaken by one actor to evoke the sound of a flapping sail, while a large bucket of water is splashed brutally to become waves. The audience are invited to squawk to resemble seagulls. All of it shows artistic vision.

Imaginative it may be, but Atkinson’s production isn’t always totally accomplished. Mehrabani’s portrayal of Bun veers towards monotonous, which makes finding the soul of his tale tricky, and Bun’s final resolution arrives abruptly, without the emotional build up to warrant such a drastic change of heart.

Still what the production lacks in finished polish it makes up for in purpose. Honouring Morpurgo’s original words, The Sleeping Sword is a detailed exploration of what it is like to live with a visual impairment in a time of inaccessibility. For children and adult audiences alike, it is audaciously creative.

ANYA RYAN

From the start it’s clear that this is going to be a bit different. Michael Morpurgo’s children’s story has been adapted by Tatty Hennessy into an inclusive production – one of the actors is visually impaired – which is accessible to people with hearing or sight difficulties by having creative captioning (surtitles plus cartoons to you and me) and audio description which starts by describing the set, who the characters are and what they will do.

The main character is 10-year-old Ben Bundle (Aarian Mehrabani), Bun to his friends, who is blinded in an accident when he dives off a quay near his home on Bryher in the Scilly Isles. He determines to make the best of it and create a story based on the Arthurian legend, and assisted by his friends Anna (Tika Mu’tamir) and the older Viv (Kirsty Ferriggi) who also plays, among others, the baddie Morgana and King Arthur.

There is a dark moment when Bun, beset by difficulties, contemplates suicide, but Anna helps him to get over it.

The story involves Merlin, Excalibur and Sir Bedivere, with Morgana’s attempts to get the sword and Bun’s quest to return it to Arthur, and Merlin throwing in a bit of magic.

The cast are excellent, with Aarian Mehrabani and Tika Mu’tamir hitting the spot with Bun and Anna’s childish enthusiasm and doubts. Kirsty Ferriggi, in her professional debut, plays a wide variety of characters with panache. And not forgetting the mellifluous voice of Daniel Ryan as the Audiobook Narrator.

At the beginning the three give a fascinating demonstration of the Foley equipment on the stage for creating the various sound effects and get a willing audience to imitate a flock of seagulls.

A lot more than what we see has gone into this production, and director Lucy Jane Atkinson has done a great job pulling all the strands together. There’s much packed into this shortish one-act play with the Arthurian theme alongside the issues of blindness, giving us a production that is challenging, entertaining and accessible.

After its Watermill run, with a recommended age of 10+, it goes on tour to local schools.

PAUL SHAVE

Sensory adventure heads out on tour of schools

The Watermill’s adaptation by Tatty Hennessy of Michael Morpurgo’s The Sleeping Sword offered an immersive and thought-provoking ride through the life of Ben Bundle and the Legend of King Arthur.

Bun – played by Aarian Mehrabani – is a young boy who goes blind following an accident on his beloved home island of Bryher.

He decides to chart his story in an audio book, with the help of his new teacher Viv and his young friend Anna (Tika Mu’tamir), who was with him when he had his accident.

Viv is played by Kirsty Ferriggi, who is herself visually impaired.

The play, directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson, uses a number of creative techniques to provide a sensory experience for all.

Audio descriptions are used throughout from describing the set in detail, to what the characters look like – and subtitles and live sound effects accompany all the scenes. A leather jacket makes a great sail flapping in the breeze, the crunch of gravel is easily created by a box of stones and the sea – central to so much of the play – can be rough or smooth depending on how fast the bucket of water is splashed by the actors.

The tale lakes the audience on a trip through Bun’s life since his accident, from the depths of his despair, to a life-changing decision at the end. And Arthurian legend, which was Bun’s favourite book to read before he went blind, begins to creep into his reality too, showing him there is a way through the darkness.

Ultimately it is a story about hope and courage to keep going and, although not perfect, this was a thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes of theatre.

The cast will now take this play to schools around the county.

SARAH BOSLEY