Rejects Revenge perform, Here Be Monsters, at the Unity Theatre _320
Hibberd explains how it worked. “We would say this is a room in a Victorian space ship, so what does it look like? We open a door and what do we see? Slot machines and a coin-operated rest and recuperation room was one suggestion.”
Inspired by the meetings, Hibberd went home and wrote the script, a bit of a departure from the company’s usual method of devising a show while Hibberd writes.
Here Be Monsters features, he explains, the world’s first – and last – steam-powered spaceship. It has been invented by Dr Frederick Watt, a descendant of James Watt, and he is joined by a not totally willing Robert Evans, a grocery delivery man.
The doctor has made a bet in his gentleman’s club that he will fly to the moon and be back for tea, and he’s determined to win the wager.
So does he win his bet? Hibberd goes all coy. “That's a moot point, we won’t go too deeply into that.”
It will be, says Ann Farrar, one of their biggest productions yet, with a big set created by designer Nicolai Hart-Hanson, who has been busy buying up appropriate props. “He’s got a lot on Ebay and gone out to an emporium in Southport.” The mobile phone has come in useful when Hart-Hanson is out on a shopping trip, suddenly diverting him to somewhere else when there is a change of plot plan.
As I looked around the rehearsal room I saw an old bicycle, coal scuttle, studded arm chair and that sideboard – standing in, apparently, for a 1908-tech consul which was still in the creation stage.
Much of the set itself was leaning against a wall, designed by Hart-Hanson but built by local set builders, Lobster Productions.
“It all has to be designed to fit into our van and be erected in a couple of hours,” explains Ann.
Musician Andy Frizell was the chap with the uke who has been writing music for the show and also on hand was film-maker Mike Wright who has created a lot of extraordinary visuals for the production.
Hibberd reports: “I would just write in the script ‘great bit of film-making goes in here’, Mike would say ‘what’, come back to show what he had done and we would stand open-mouthed.”
Originally, there was to be a cast of four but cutbacks reduced it to two, the doctor played by Liam Tobin and the grocery man Robert Evans, by Sean Kearney, both previous performers for the com- pany.
While the Rejects has its regular actors, the company itself has only two permanent staff, artistic direc- tor Ann Farrar and general man- ager Adrian Turrell-Watts. Sue Gannon is a one-day-a-week part-time administrator. Here Be Monsters is the company’s 14th national touring show. Could it really be the last?
* HERE Be Monsters runs at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool, January 23-26, and then goes on a national tour.
