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About
Gyre and Gimble (Warhorse, Running Wild, The Lorax and the forthcoming new musical The Grinning Man), brings its mid-scale physical theatre and puppetry production The Hartlepool Monkey to Nuffield Southampton Theatres (NST) on the 31 October – 1 November 2017.
Based on the infamous myth of the same name, The Hartlepool Monkey takes place in the year of 1814. A French warship has wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool. All hands on board have been lost, except a brave young girl disguised as a cabin boy and the ship's mascot: a chimpanzee in full French naval uniform.
Having never seen a Frenchman before, the Hartlepudlians are quick to agree that creature they have discovered is a military spy, and, in a bid for national fame, stage a trial accusing the chimpanzee of attempted invasion! While the monkey is mistaken for a French spy and captured by the townspeople, the cabin girl is accepted by the local children who overcome their differences through play.
Featuring innovative stagecraft and ground-breaking puppetry against a bleak and sandblasted beach, with locations and characters being created and abandoned by a motley crew of performers, The Hartlepool Monkey is a visual, physical and captivating show which explores the themes of borders, ignorance and discrimination with tact and well-placed humour.
Audiences will laugh as well as find themselves on the edge of their seats during the hair-raising escapades of a town on the brink of hysteria, and get swept up in the heart-felt bond that has formed between the human and simian protagonists.
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