Production Notes for Beneath the Waves

On behalf of Eastern Angles and Colchester's Mercury Theatre, welcome to "Beneath the Waves".  Following the success of "Peculiar People" last year we have once again joined forces to produce a show for Eastern Angles' small scale circuit of theatres and community venues..  We are delighted to say that we had to extend the tour in order to accommodate everybody.

The Mercury has designed the set, costumes and lighting for the show, and made or built where necessary, offering us a new stage configuration.   Our usual small rostra - built in 1982 to last a couple of years at most! - have taken a well earned rest.   Colchester's Head of Design, Ken Harrison, knows Eastern Angles well, having designed "Devil on the Heath" in 1986.   It has been a pleasure to work with him again and with all the Mercury staff.

The '53 floods had suggested themselves to me before as a subject for a show and the increasing talk about the possible effects of global warming on this low lying region only made the subject more relevant.   Although 1993 seemed a good opportunity, we were nevertheless surprised by the amount of publicity given locally.   Most papers had special supplements and both local TV companies featured it.   Falling during our rehearsal period we pondered the appeal of this disaster, which is most frequently compared to wartime, and its place in national and local terms.

On a national level, with over 300 people killed, the floods are in the same league as the Aberfan disaster, yet most people outside the region know nothing about them - as most of the actors auditioned for the show testified.   This is in keeping with the contemporary feeling: even as the surge ripped into Lincolnshire and then the Norfolk coast on Saturday evening the national weather forecasts made little reference to possible flooding.   Of course the timing could not have been worse - government departments had closed for the weekend and reopened on the Monday to a disaster that was already more than 24 hours old.

However, on a regional level the '53 floods offer one of those totems around which all of us gather.   For the fact is disasters such as floods and gales, at least so far in our region, and this is where the wartime comparison comes in, are principally about surviving, usually in a communal fashion along with others.   Whereas the effect of plane crashes, car accidents and epidemics are all determined by the loss of life, since it is in the nature of these incidents that they offer little time or opportunity for conscious evasive action.   The feeling is of being picked out or not by a blank uncomprehending fate.   In the floods of '53 people fought for their own lives, and often for their pets and possessions too, and were then luck, saved or just too bloody determined to give in.   IN the end the significant factor is the sheet number of people who fought to survive, either for themselves or others.   And that is something always worthy of celebration.   Although whether it clouds our judgement on whether it could happen again is perhaps another question.

Ivan Cutting - Artistic Director