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Katie Overstall and Nell Thomas on Around The World With Nellie Bly
From the Edinburgh Fringe to the Waterloo VAULT Festival, through a visit around the world, performer Katie Overstall has joined her character Nellie Bly on an enormous journey this yr. We have been delighted due to this fact when Katie, together with director Nell Thomas, discovered 5 minutes to inform ET about this fascinating explorer and what to anticipate from Shedlight Stories‘ Around The World With Nellie Bly
Well, we’ve all heard of Phileas Fogg and his journey around the world in eighty days, however Nellie Bly is much less well-known. Was she an actual individual, and what journey did she undertake precisely?
KATIE: She was an actual individual! Nellie Bly was a journalist, dwelling in New York within the late 1800s. Nowadays we’d name her an investigative journalist – she wrote all kinds of unimaginable tales, usually placing herself in hurt’s approach to take action.
NELL: In our present we give attention to simply one in all her tales; her solo journey world wide, which was impressed by Jules Verne’s e book printed about 20 years beforehand.
After convincing her male editors that she was greater than able to endeavor the journey alone as a younger girl, she tried to beat Phileas Fogg’s fictional document and make it from New York throughout the entire world and again to New York in lower than 80 days.
Taking the same route as Fogg within the e book, she travelled throughout the Atlantic, by means of Europe, Africa, and Asia, throughout the Pacific and throughout the United States through trains and ships. Not a simple journey within the nineteenth century!
She needed to take care of ocean storms, snow storms, delays, and even a competing journalist trying the identical factor in the wrong way. She visited some unimaginable locations and met an entire host of individuals alongside the best way (all performed splendidly in our present by Katie) and even obtained to satisfy Jules Verne himself.
You wrote the present your self: why did you select to inform Nellie’s story, and why for a younger viewers?
KATIE: Nell introduced Nellie’s story to me, and I believed it was improbable – bursting with theatrical promise. I cherished that it was a narrative a couple of younger girl standing up for herself and testing her personal limits. I additionally actually love that she began her journey simply to see if it was doable. She had a powerful sense of curiosity.
NELL: I had come throughout Nellie by probability and the extra I examine her, the extra I knew I wished to make a present about her. Katie and I’ve labored collectively quite a bit previously and we love discovering enjoyable and imaginative methods to inform tales and this appeared like it will be the proper match. There was the chance for journey, jeopardy, a lot of foolish characters, and even a monkey! It grew to become fairly clear early on within the course of that this may be for a youthful viewers.
KATIE: The story offered the chance to inform an journey story that isn’t only for boys, and hopefully we can encourage children of any gender to be curious and adventurous.
NELL: I’ve seen research that present that across the age of eight ladies develop into much less assured and lose curiosity in issues they have been beforehand invested in as a result of they’re thought-about actions or topics for boys, so I actually wished to pitch it at that age vary and hone in on the themes of self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-belief, and never letting others inform you that one thing you’re concerned about isn’t for you simply due to your gender.
What form of individual is Nellie?
KATIE: She’s daring and decided and really sensible. She seems to be for the great in everybody and doesn’t put up with gossip or cruelty. She will be fairly cussed and single-minded although, however she often admits when she’s flawed finally!
Can you inform us a bit in regards to the puppet characters?
NELL: We have a number of, however our foremost puppet is a monkey (a long-tailed macaque to be extra exact) known as McGinty. He relies on the true monkey that Nellie adopted in Singapore on her journey and introduced dwelling along with her to New York.
Once we determined we have been going to intention the present at children we knew that we needed to embody him in our story. Throughout the event of the present he grew to become an integral a part of it and basically turns into Nellie’s finest pal, her confidant, and even the voice of cause occasionally (though he’s non-verbal).
He is a improbable puppet made by Shaun Lati, and is designed to have the ability to be puppeteered by one hand, permitting Katie to maintain him shifting whereas doing the million different issues that have to be finished within the present concurrently!
KATIE: Also he’s actually cute.
NELL: Yes, he’s been a really huge hit with the youngsters. Big and small!
Do you additionally use unique music and sound within the manufacturing?
NELL: One of the primary issues we mentioned when growing the present was that it ought to be simple to journey. Like the true Nellie, we journey very mild, there aren’t any huge set or tech necessities, so we rely loads on sound to set the scene.
We initially labored with a sound designer known as Joe Hewitt who helped us by means of our R&D after which with Julian Starr who accomplished the sound design with great music and a soundscape to essentially create the environment of the play. It turns into a terrific shorthand to indicate the place we’re on the planet at any given level and when there’s hazard or jeopardy, and we clearly do numerous travelling within the story, so there are numerous practice and boat noises required to offer a way of movement.
We additionally labored with a number of different actors to construct up among the soundscape and add some further voices in. Katie performs so many various characters that it’s good to offer her a little bit of a break!
Why do you assume Nellie’s true story is just not as well-known as that of the fictional character of Fogg?
KATIE: At the time, her journey was making nationwide headlines day by day and was a vastly well-liked story in America. On the final legs of her journey, crowds could be ready at each practice station she handed by means of as a way to see her. She even wrote a e book about her journey, however I suppose it’s arduous to compete with an already well-known creator like Jules Verne, and historical past does tend to miss girls…
NELL: This yr marks 150 years because the publication of the novel Around the World in 80 Days, and also you simply have to have a look at what number of variations of the story there have been in that point to see that there’s something in regards to the story that folks love. I simply don’t assume they’ve been given the chance to be taught {that a} girl really tried this feat in actual life. I hope that our present goes somewhat approach in the direction of individuals recognising that this didn’t simply occur in fiction.
You have been at Edinburgh this summer time within the sunshine – are you bracing your self for winter on the Vaults, or will Nellie’s resilience see you each by means of a residence on the dank cellars?
KATIE: Honestly, I’m form of wanting ahead to it. My costume is kind of a heavy Victorian fashion costume – very superbly made, however very popular! In the summer time solar it was a bit a lot, so possibly a dank cellar is simply what I would like!
Thanks very a lot to Katie and Nell for this fascinating perception into a real life inspiration. Around the World with Nellie Bly is geared toward households and kids age 6+ and runs on the Vaults from Saturday 28 January to Sunday 5 February
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