Three Left Feet, a new theatre company, established this year, is opening its doors for its first shows in December. The company will be presenting productions of A Christmas Carol on the 7th and 8th December at 7.30 pm in Waterstones on King Street and A Fisherman’s Tale on 12th-15th December at 7 pm with 2 pm matinees on the Sat and Sun; all showings will be performed at the Maritime Museum on St George’s Quay.
Although this is a new venture for the company, co-founders Lara Orriss, Elspeth Dale and Lucy Malaihollo-Sheppard, have worked together on previous productions for LUTG (Lancaster University Theatre Group). Most recently and significantly they produced the outdoor performance of Twelfth Night in Williamson Park, a production they all adored and were incredibly proud of.
The two shows being performed in December are pilot ventures that are designed to put Three Left Feet on the map and show people what they are all about. The company aims to make a name for themselves locally, despite being a relatively new and small company they are working with these facts to put themselves out there by performing in well-known venues around Lancaster.
The current focus of their work is creative adaptations; taking old, traditional and well-loved stories and plays and framing them in new ways. They also work very site-sensitively by endeavouring to work with space, not just in it. So, for example, in one of their upcoming shows, A Fisherman’s Tale, it was inspired by the Maritime Museum’s Education Room which looks like you are below decks on a ship. The decision was made to devise a show around an old fisherman spinning yarns about his past adventures (based on sea-related fairytales) and making his crew act them out while they all shelter from a storm.
Two young writers approached Three Left Feet with the idea for a spooky adaptation of A Christmas Carol using puppets and so, in tune with site-sensitivity, they found a venue that spoke to the piece – the pair adapted the show very faithfully from the novella. As the famous A Christmas Carol was a novella, a bookshop seemed very fitting. Plus, King Street Waterstones with its dark wood interior is a beautiful space that immediately evokes the atmosphere of a bygone, Dickensian time.
Speaking to Producer, Elspeth Dale, she expresses her opinion that the most important thing to know about Three Left Feet is that the company is made up of three young, female theatre-makers. All of whom love to collaborate with other aspiring creatives to do their work, e.g. writers, performers, composers, photographers etc. All three are also students with Elspeth preparing to graduate from her Masters, Lucy has just graduated from her bachelors, and Lara is a final year English Literature and Creative Writing student.
For more information about their upcoming productions, head to www.threeleftfeet.co.uk
