"Never work with children and animals"

It’s often quoted to those in the creative sphere to “never work with children or animals”, but when there is the opportunity to direct a story as beautiful as Morpurgo’s Running Wild, it’s advice that is easy to ignore.

“To educate individuals to embrace challenge and take responsibility for shaping a better world.”

UWC education mission

I first saw Running Wild on stage with my grandmother in 2016,  a month before I departed the UK to start working at UWCSEA. During the interval, I turned to my Nan and said, “You know, I think my new school would love this play.” The story weaves itself through our UWC mission statements, and as we watch the journey unfold, we are reminded of the importance of compassion, resilience, and our interconnectedness with each other and with the natural world.

I am thankful to have been able to work alongside such an enthusiastic and talented ensemble of young puppeteers, actors and musicians.

All involved, across multiple academic departments and campus functions have worked tirelessly to bring this story to life and we hope that you will be inspired by their passion and dedication. I believe that theatre has the power to entertain, educate, and bring people together, and I hope that this production will do just that. 

P. S Seven years later, you can let me know if I was right. You can also let my Nan know as she joins us from the UK for opening night.

“Use music and song throughout, imaginatively and liberally”

Adamson, Samuel. Running Wild. 2015.

The script makes reference to the use of Indonesian language and to the nature of the islands in general but offers no translations or specifics. In line with our growing intercultural competencies on campus and ongoing work with translanguaging we sought out as many authentic Indonesian elements as possible.
  

The script instructed us to “Use music and song throughout, imaginatively and liberally” and with that in mind the inclusion of a full Indonesian Gamelan Ensemble was too good of an opportunity to let pass by. I'm grateful to Miles Tranter and the wider Music Department for giving us access to such a wonderful resource. Under the tutelage of Faezean Redwan we were able to create a set of original scores for the production and to watch, lead, and mentor our young musicians.

 “The Jungle comes to life”

Adamson, Samuel. Running Wild. 2015

We hoped to create an immersive experience for our audience. 

If you are sitting in the theatre reading this you are currently in a traverse stage. This is a theater configuration where the audience sits on either side of a long, narrow stage. This design allows the audience to feel embedded in the action, as they're closer to the performers and can see the action from multiple angles.

With "Running Wild", we wanted you to feel like you are truly in the jungle with the characters, and hopefully the traverse stage will help us achieve that goal.

Additionally, our non-naturalistic approach to set design allowed us to create an environment that felt more like an abstract representation of the Tsunami, Wreckage and Jungle, rather than a literal recreation. This allowed us to be more free with our design choices, and to create a sense of immersion that was both imaginative and evocative and made space for our cast and puppets to create the backdrop for the story.