This year’s Christmas production at Newcastle-under-Lyme’s New Vic Theatre is an ambitious new version of The Little Mermaid in which half the characters have tails and ‘swim’ during the show... Artistic Director Theresa Heskins tells What’s On she loves the challenge of ‘staging the impossible’…

The New Vic Theatre’s partnership with contemporary circus company Upswing is set to bear its first festive fruit this year, in the form of a bold new adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.

And the production really is ‘bold’- not least in putting mermaids, who have tails so can’t walk, on a stage… and then making them swim! 

For ‘bold’, read ‘challenging’, ‘preposterous’ or maybe even a little ‘insane’!

“I do love the impossible,” laughs the theatre’s artistic director, Theresa Heskins, who has created the show alongside Vicki Dela Amedume, artistic director of Upswing. Although the duo previously worked together on acclaimed adaptations of The Company Of Wolves and The Princess And The Pea, this is their first collaboration for a Christmas show.

“There’s such rich visual language in the story of The Little Mermaid,” says Theresa, “and utilising circus opens up a whole host of possibilities for how we create this undersea world.

“Our audience members have been captivated by the way we combine contemporary circus and storytelling, and this is a perfect opportunity to bring these elements together into our biggest family show of the year.”

But why make it so hard on themselves by choosing a story set in water?

“Ever since we did Around The World In 80 Days - which had to have eight billion people on stage when Phileas Fogg got to India, as well as boats and trains and an elephant and things - I’ve always loved the challenge of how you can stage the impossible.”

It also turns out that the show came top of a wish-list from schoolchildren invited to vote for this year’s production. Theresa is obviously relying on that same audience to embrace it - and “bring their imaginations to the table” - as they have done in previous years.

“At the time, I didn’t realise it was an ‘impossible to stage’ choice, but that’s always appealing. How on earth are we going to do this? Being under the water, out of the water, on the water… those were the three key things that we started with. 

“The designers have solved the problem of how to be under the sea, how to be on the beach, how to swim in the sea, in such an exciting way. What I’d written for them to do was impossible… I actually wrote it as a radio play, so I’m not the one solving problems.”

One of the most glaring of those problems is that the mermaids have tails, so they can’t even stand up!

“We felt that real acrobatics would be a brilliant way to do mermaids swimming under the sea. So we gathered together a brilliant team of aerialists from all over the world and had some prototype tails and tried those. It was then that we realised that about 80 per cent of what aerial acrobats do, they do with their legs and feet, so we had to explore what they could do just using upper-body strength - and my goodness, they’ve got a lot of it!”

No sooner had the team solved one problem than they were presented with another - how are the mermaids going to get on and off stage, as well as backstage, if they can’t walk?

“The poor things! They need to go up and down stairs using just their upper body strength on the railings!

“There were all sorts of unforeseen challenges, but I think we’ve found something really exciting. The mermaid costumes are absolutely magical, beyond anything I dreamt they’d be, so I think we’ve got a real spectacle lined up. We always do, but the problem with doing massive, spectacular shows that audiences love means that every year we set the bar higher.”

One of the ways The Little Mermaid aims to reach new heights is via stunning kaleidoscopic coral reef sets. There’s also original live music to enjoy, performed by Red Whip Coral And The Sea Urchins, a five-piece undersea band led by acclaimed clarinettist Arun Ghosh, who’s composed all the music and will perform at every show.

“He’s toured globally, so we’re lucky to have him here. It’s great to give young people such incredible quality of music - it’s going to be a real gift.” 

Arun’s involvement is yet another example of those ‘raising the bar’ ambitions - something amply demonstrated by Theresa and Vicki being jointly nominated for Best Director at the UK Theatre Awards (for The Company Of Wolves). Their desire to keep evolving is also reflected in the successful transfer of The Princess And The Pea to New York, where audiences “responded in exactly the same way as British audiences, only louder”, according to Theresa. 

Not only is the New Vic gaining an international reputation, but just as importantly, local audiences can see genuinely world-class entertainment on their doorstep.

“We do our best to ensure we make the best work we possibly can, and it’s by local people. The actors come to us from all over the country, but the people making the set, the lighting, the costumes, all the backstage teams, are all local. Knowing that the quality of work we’re making is good enough to be exported all over the world is a real source of pride.”

Teaming with Upswing to mix traditional theatre with circus performance is also helping to create a buzz. And while the form is cutting-edge contemporary, its history dates back to a hero of the region.

“Part of the area’s unique heritage is that Philip Astley, the man considered to be the father of the modern circus, was born here in the 18th century and is, to some extent, our Shakespeare. Being able to take the populist form he invented and transcend boundaries of nations, language and age - everyone loves the circus - is great.”

Theresa also hopes it means the Christmas show is far more than pantomime, and will attract an even wider audience than a traditional festive production.

“We call it a circus-theatre fusion, and there aren’t many people making that in the world, which is one of the reasons it’s in such demand globally. People are realising that circuses are thrilling and exciting to watch, but stories are wonderful too and can hold your attention - so to combine circus with a really gripping story means it can reach a much wider audience.

“But fundamentally it’s all about making sure that those families who come for their Christmas treat go away buzzing and talking about it for decades afterwards.”

Feature by Steve Adams

The Little Mermaid shows at the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, from Friday 14 November to Saturday 24 January