Bruntwood prize-winning play Electric Rosary, written by Tim Foley, made a powerful impact when produced at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre in 2022. Tim’s most recent play, Driftwood, has been put on video during its tour last autumn and can be streamed free.
The drama was co-produced by theatre companies Pentabus and ThickSkin, and the tour was to a variety of venues including Blackpool Grand. Now its “live capture” has been released, celebrating Village Halls Week.
Pentabus has a history of excellent digital theatre, most recently winning an Off West End Award for Best Online Production and BFFI Best Film for their work.
Directed by Elle While (The Globe’s Hamlet, West End revival The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and Neil Bettles (Disney’s Bedknobs & Broomsticks, Frantic Assembly’s The Unreturning), the play is described as “intoxicating and mystical”, in a distinctive physical and cinematic style.
The story is set in Seaton Carewe, the seaside town near Hartlepool, and is about two brothers who walk a beach, trying to figure out what to do with their dying dad. As Mark and Tiny meet, their own town is crumbling. Family rifts and political divides pull them apart, while a strange figure made of driftwood seems to stalk the shore at night.
But there are dying crabs on the beach, and something is wrong with the sea itself…
There are only two performers, James Westphal and Jerome Yates. Design is by Lulu Tam, lighting by Charly Dunford and Sound by Lee Affen.
The video is free to watch (below) until March 27, or by searching for Driftwood Live Capture | Pentabus.