MERMAID

A bold reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen's tale of love, loss and longing.

Written and directed by Polly Teale

Below the ocean there is no death or pain or separation. Above the water is the modern world beset with war, poverty and desire.

On her sixteenth birthday, a mermaid rises up to the surface, leaving her childhood behind forever when she falls in love with a mortal prince. She knows that she can no longer live at the bottom of the ocean, but must she destroy herself in order to be loved?

Shared Experience is renowned for its thrilling adaptions of literary classics. Plundering Hans Christian Andersen's haunting tale for its dark, erotic, mythic power, writer and director Polly Teale (Jane Eyre, After Mrs Rochester, Brontë) transports the story to a contemporary setting in this spell binding new production.

Using a choir of local young women to create an unearthly musical landscape Shared Experience conjures the magical world of Mermaids.

We will have a chorus of young women in each of the cities the tour is visiting who will be part of the production, performing on stage and creating the sound of the Mermaids. They will also take part in a nationwide project that accompanies the show that looks at the effect of the media on girl's sense of self and empowers them to challenge myths about femininity.

We are committed to working with a wide range of young people, aged 14 to 19 and from a variety of backgrounds. Participants do not have to be the best singers, just enthusiastic and willing to get involved with a passion for drama.

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From the ebb and flow of the narrative, moments of dark enchantment stream to the surface ... heartbreakingly beautiful.

Times

It's hard to express just how gorgeous, how poignant and how downright radical it is.

Herald

The latest work by Shared Experience is wonderfully atmospheric and they craft a rich visual feast.

What's On Stage

This poetic stage adaptation is as profoundly deep as the ocean itself ... as a piece of theatre it works swimmingly well.

Public Reviews

A beautifully choreographed, innovative and unsettling interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's most famous tale.

The Stage

Sheer visual beauty.

Scotsman

Mermaid is mind-blowing: it's a beautiful, haunting and incredible piece of theatre.

A Younger Theatre