Review: CASTAWAY, Highly Sprung Performance (Basingstoke Festival)

There is a flying machine in the middle of one of Basingstoke’s busiest outdoor spaces, Eastrop Park! It draws interest and crowds long before the performance starts. What is it? What is it doing there? Why is it surrounded by rubbish and plastic bags? This fantastic new aerial spectacle from Highly Sprung is a visual treat, but has some much deeper messages for its entranced audience.

Castaway challenges the throwaway society that we currently live in, and the piece has been crafted in response to what is now being called ‘the Great Pacific Garbage patch’, a floating island of plastic in the Pacific Ocean which is now 6 ½ times the size of the UK. 

The loose story follows two girls who are draped in brand labels, consuming fast food and single use packaging at an alarming rate. One of them is physically weighed down by the rubbish that they produce, and this is when we meet the beautiful sea creature, and the aerial choreography begins! For the first 10 minutes of the piece, the audience are not even aware of a third performer- she emerges from a huge pile of rubbish and plastic, and gracefully swims and glides around the space above our heads. The sea creature and the girl tussle in the rubbish, and the girl learns the error of her ways. When she meets her friend again later in the story, the friend hasn’t changed her ways at all, but the girl changes her actions, and moves to a more sustainable way of living. 

Whilst all of the action is taking place, rowers on Eastrop Lake - the very apt backdrop for the piece - stop to watch, reminding us that it is not just our oceans which need preserving, all bodies of water large and small face the same threats. At times, the messages communicated by the piece do feel a little heavy handed, but it certainly leaves the audience with plenty of food for thought, and by the end of the 30-minute piece, many of the audience rush to speak to the performers. 

The piece is a beautiful addition to the exciting Basingstoke Festival programme, which this year is proving that outdoor performances are a fantastic way for audiences – young and old- to engage in the arts during these challenging Covid-restricted times. 

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Sarah Brown

Future tour dates for Castaway can be found here.