Award-winning theatre company Smoking Apples newest production Three, profoundly captures the heartfelt bonds between grandparents and grandchildren as audiences are invited into the lives of three neighbours. We sat down with co- director Molly Freeman.
Three blends puppetry, masks, and storytelling to explore intergenerational relationships—what inspired you to use these visual forms to capture the nuances of family life?
A key part of the narrative is ageing, with both the grandchildren getting older, and the grandparents too. Using both puppetry and mask has enabled us to explore this, in a beautiful way, and more practically jump forwards and backwards in time. The visual forms have also allowed us to explore agency. The puppets require more support, with other people (puppeteers in this case) making all the decisions for them which is much more reflective of being a young person. Then, once the characters reach adulthood, they become masked characters, with more agency and freedom. It’s been really interesting to work with visual forms that reflect the storytelling in this way.
The show highlights both the joyous and heartbreaking aspects of grandparent-grandchild relationships—how did your own family experiences shape the narrative?
Hugely. People often ask if the show is autobiographical or not and no, it’s not, not in it’s entirety but the experiences of the cast and creative team feature hugely in the work and so the characters become an amalgamation of all our different stories. I think there’s always a part of the story that resonates with you, on a personal level and for me, that the relationship between Sophie and Ida. I hope there’s something that will resonate for everyone in Three, even the harder parts.
Incorporating masks is new for Smoking Apples Theatre—what discoveries did you make about age, identity, and empathy through this technique?
Mask is beautiful and subtle, detailed and nuanced. It draws attention to everything, in the most gorgeous way. It heightens the physicality of the performers and so this is where we were really able to play with ageing the characters but I adore that the faces don’t change. Even as the bodies change throughout the course of the show, the expressions don’t. Somehow, it’s as though they seem to but there’s a whisper of the expression and emotion of the characters from all the various stages of their lives and I think this is what is so captivating about it.
Kitchens serve as the heart of the show and the meeting point of three neighbours—how did you decide on this intimate, domestic setting as the stage for larger themes of connection?
We explored lots of different options for this but the kitchen felt like the right spot because of its ordinary steadfastness. It’s completely underwhelming in the best possible way but the keeper of the special moments. When I look back at my own childhood, the resounding memories aren’t of the holidays or trips out, they’re of cups of tea in the kitchen, me sitting on the counter, with my Nan making jam. Kitchens see everything, the good, the bad, the ugly, the birthday dinners being made but also the sitting awake at 3am. For me, this is true connectivity, unforced but ever present.
Puppetry often magnifies human action and emotion—how do you balance the whimsical and tender moments with the raw, real-life experiences portrayed in Three?
It can be a challenge, for sure but I think the importance of portraying both light and shade is that it can remain human. It’s also possible for individual moments to be both happy and sad at the same time. Partly, the balance is managed within the structure of the show itself, making sure that some of the harder parts are balanced with the joyful ones and then there’s the power of puppetry itself. With the puppets, they magnify these human responses but there’s the added layer of the puppeteers themselves which can help to bring additional lightness to joyful moments, for example one the puppeteer playing the cat might deliver a wry smile when he’s sitting on Ralph’s seat he knows he’s not allowed on. Equally, the puppeteers might deliver delicate care and support to a character who is feeling down, by softening their movement and leaning their bodies into them.
The carousel-like set allows narratives to intertwine fluidly—how important was the visual storytelling in conveying the passing of time and the wisdom of the third generation?
It’s hugely important. The sets in our shows act as part of the dialogue of the piece and that is never more true than with Three. The rotational nature of the set came about as we wanted that cyclical nature to be inherent with this piece. This reflects both time passing but also the consistency of change and the circularity of life. The doors also open into each section of the set so there is an interconnectivity and a flow that is generated, to reflect the passing of knowledge from generation to generation.
Tickets are available below:
22nd October: Tonbridge- https://emftheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173661352
28th – 29th October – Hertford https://purchase.beamhertford.co.uk/EventAvailability?EventId=109201&ref=bookNow&scroll=timeAndDates
4th – 7th November The Quarterhouse: Folkestone – https://www.creativefolkestone.org.uk/whats-on/three/