Hijinx’s online digital performance, Metamorphosis, will be part of Summerhall’s Festival in the Edinburgh Fringe programme.
The award-winning innovative (and interactive) live digital experience will be streaming as part of Summerhall’s online programme for 2021, from Sunday 22 August to Sunday 29 August this year.
Cardiff based theatre company, Hijinx productions include Edinburgh Festival Fringe hits Meet Fred (a sell-out show in 2016), and The Flop (shortlisted for a Total Theatre Award in 2018), alongside the international ensemble work Into the Light (with Frantic Assembly).
Metamorphosis is inspired by Franz Kafka’s classic novella has been reimagined for online audiences. The production is performed live on Zoom, exploring the advantages, limitations, and comedic value of video calls. Metamorphosis was an experiment for Hijinx in recreating the highly interactive nature of their previous touring productions.
It had its world premiere as part of the Green Man: Festival of Streams digital festival in August 2020. Last November, Metamorphosis was selected to perform at the global festival and fundraiser, “Good Thea@tre Festival and Awards” hosted by the Red Curtain International, where it received the award for both Best Direction and Most Innovative use of Technology.
Metamorphosis follows the story of Gregor Samsa who wakes up one morning from uneasy dreams to find he had turned into a monstrous verminous bug. He is incapacitated, confined to the house, unable to work and unable to hold his family close. This metadrama sees the cast of 12, all of whom have awoken to a different world, forced to reinterpret their profession, their identity, their very worth to the world.
Recommended for ages 14+, During the performance, the audience will be able to interact with Zoom’s polling functions and may even become part of the action, so should be dressed appropriately, or at the very least, dressed! The Hijinx cast will perform live from their own homes, where an unexpected extra (dog, cat, child or guinea pig) could appear at any given time. There will be audio description and closed captioning available at every performance.
Hijinx Academy actress Ffion Gwyther, who has recently become a YouTube sensation with her lockdown videos and catchphrase ‘cwtch in and have a drink’, will feature in the online theatre production. Metamorphosis also includes a team of professional Hijinx actors, as well as music specifically created by award winning BAFTA Cymru Composer Tic Ashfield.
Artistic Director of Hijinx, and Director of Metamorphosis, Ben Pettitt-Wade said, “We are thrilled to be returning to the Summerhall for Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021, all be it under very different circumstances. The fringe has always been about experimentation and Metamorphosis has certainly been an experiment for us, an urgent repost to the question of how we remain creative when everything we know has gone. We are delighted that more people will now have a chance to enjoy and relate to this satirical snap shot of a year on Zoom.”
Further information: www.hijinx.org.uk.
@HijinxTheatre