Feral comes to Upton Country Park

Exploring racism, community, the gypsy experience and the conflict between logic and intuition, Feral is a compelling one-woman show that follows the story of 18-year-old Simone as she is gripped by a magnetic and overwhelming wanderlust.

Forced by powerful and disturbing impulses to abandon her family and travel in the open, Simone runs away from home and ventures into the wilds of the Dorset landscape.

Living rough and stealing money and food to survive, Simone weaves an erratic trail, moving across the contours of the land and meeting an ensemble of characters – some supportive, others antagonistic and even threatening. But her luck cannot hold forever and the police are soon in pursuit, along with her past.

Produced by established Bournemouth-based production company Doppelganger Productions in partnership with renowned open air theatre company SISTATA, Feral will be directed by Charmaine K Parkin.

Charmaine’s appointment as director of Feral follows her recent direction of the acclaimed production RIDE, also written by John Foster, which received rave reviews across the south when it toured in March. Her interpretation of Feral will include live music written and performed especially for the production by haunting Brighton-based singer and song-writer Hui Hue, who will be accompanied by live harpist Caolan Walpot.

Charmaine said, “I’m thrilled to be collaborating with two fantastic musicians, to experience how their artistic quality enriches John’s text. Alongside integrating the music, I cannot wait to develop the production to work both open-air and promenade as well as on stage; exploring the human connection with nature and exploring the gypsy culture and heritage.”

The preview performance of Feral will take place at Upton Country Park on Sunday 17 June. Running time will be approximately one hour.