xMortal Coil
The Faerie Play by Lois Anderson, Cathy Stubbington with Peter Hall

Dates and Venue Aug. 5 – 15, 2015, (Two Shows @ 3:30pm Matinee & 6:30pm) | The Sharing Farm, 2771 Westminster Highway, Richmond

Reviewer Ed Farolan

This site-specific theatrical production for children and families is quite innovative. It takes place in an organic farm where we are led by faeries through the forest and the farm teeming with sunflowers, apples, melons and all sorts of vegetables. The story is about a child who is stolen by one of the farm's resident fairies and must be found by the rest of the cast (and the audience) before she disappears forever into the fairy world.

Led by Sharon Bayly (Miss Potts), an eccentric and insecure woman, she tells us to follow the faeries who lead us through the farm, including a garlic patch with Acacia Meyer (Garlic Farmer) telling us on an aside that the Garlic Festival is coming soon on August 25th. We are also led by by Sean Sonier (Scarecrow) who leads us to Snail who is also played by Sonier, as we go through a Sunflower garden where Snail asks a little girl (my granddaughter) about Dandelions. She says she plants dandelions in her garden, and everyone laughs.

This show is a must-see for children and adults, young and old, as it teaches us lessons about organic gardening and the need to go back to nature The Sharing Farm is run by community members and the produce is meant to feed Richmond families in need. Mortal Coil is a performance company dedicated to creating imaginative theatre and spectacle, and the actors, through the use of stilts, masks, puppets and fantastic costuming bring a sense of magic and myth to their performance.

© 2015 Ed Farolan