Carrion
In the silence of the forest, three friends are meeting in troubled times, Crow, clever but somewhat cynical, flighty Fox, always hungry and often unreliable, and Bear, awoken early from his hibernation by nightmares of flooding, a premonition of the early thaw which has marked the end of winter too soon, the cycle of the seasons natural, predictable and expected but this change new and dangerous, perhaps linked with the newcomers, the Twolegs.
Their domain known as the Grey Forest, it is not thought to be safe but Bear knows that it hides reserves of food for those brave enough to take it, enough for all the inhabitants of the forest where foraging is no longer sufficient, the inhabitants of the forest turning on each other and their former friend Badger who lied and stole from them now dead, an unnatural death, a death not of the forest, Fox finding a strange stone in the bloody hole in his fur.
Starring Will Shackleton, Susie Weidmann and Nic Rackow as Crow, Fox and Bear, Carrion is directed by Lucas Angeli from a script by Max Morgan which presents the threats of displacement of species, loss of habitat and climate change and presents them as a dark anthropomorphic drama of three different personalities who reluctantly come to accept that the home they share is threatened by the encroachment of a hostile new species with the power to tears down trees.
The staging simple, a forest floor of earth, twigs and dry roots, the hazy light tracks the change of day into night as the actions which have been forced upon the trio make their situation increasingly precarious, Fox impulsive and Bear strong in claw but poor in planning, while tall crow, black feathered wings folded behind him and head crooked to one side, sees all and considers with intellect but often remains silent, perhaps knowing that he will not be listened to, perhaps realising the advantages once offered by his furred companions are now a liability.
Carrion ran at C Aquila on Johnston Terrance until Sunday 25th August
