Michael Cox speaks with one-half of Vox Motus about their latest production: The Infamous Brothers Davenport.
Michael Cox: Where did the idea for the production come from, and who approached whom about it?
Candice Edmunds: We had been planning to make a show about Victorian séances and spirit mediums for quite a while. While researching the topic we discovered the story of the Davenport Brothers who introduced the idea of the ‘Spirit Cabinet’, versions of which are still used by both spiritualists and magicians today.
[Lyceum artistic director] Mark Thompson approached us about our idea - and I think we all realized what a great chance this was to perform this quintessentially Victorian story in this great Victorian theatre - and the relationship grew from there. It might seem an unlikely marriage but it’s been a very happy and fruitful one.
MC: Vox Motus is well known for its theatricality. Did that fact inform on the choice to do this, or is it a bit of a coincidence?
CE: The Davenports were first and foremost performers – there is an inherent theatricality in séances and the conjuring of ‘spirits’, just as there is with any ritual. I hope that we’ve taken this a step further with the story and set design. Illusion is at the heart of the staging of this production – certainly on a scale we’ve never used before. But it is not just a part of the Davenport’s act; it is a key story-telling device.
MC: Is there anything in this production that’s new for Vox Motus?
CE: Original music has become an increasingly important part of our theatrical language. This is our first collaboration with composer and musician Phamie Gow, who will be performing her original soundtrack live alongside the production. She has just spent a period in the USA (where the Davenports came from), and there is a real American influence to her beautiful classical-Celtic crossover style [that] has married perfectly with the story.
MC: Tell me a bit about the development of the script.
CE: This is the first time Jamie and I have worked with another writer, and Peter [Arnott] has been incredibly generous. When we read The Breathing House we knew we’d identified the Victorian ‘voice’ that we wanted for our script. The story developed between the three of us and then Peter would put all our ideas into the script. We would regularly meet and keep challenging ourselves, our story; bringing new research and ideas to the table. Eventually we were at a stage where we felt we could bring actors in and hear what we’d created.
MC: Have there been many rewrites in rehearsal?
CE: Poor Peter had to rewrite the ending nine times, I think! We had a very thorough draft that we went into rehearsals with. While we haven’t rewritten the play in the rehearsal room we have pared back and pared back. Once you start adding the visuals and the original, live music you see how much can be said without words.
MC: How ‘historically accurate’ is the production in terms of authenticity?
CE: We never set out to slavishly recreate the Davenports’ story. In fact, while there are great descriptions of the Davenports’ act, their ‘biographical’ information is largely publicity material. It gave us a great freedom to play with their characters and backstory. We read a great deal into the acts and anecdotes of the time – not just the Davenports but the whole spiritualist movement of the time. We’ve drawn on a wide-range of anecdotes and reports to create what we are now calling The Infamous Brothers Davenport.
One of the early discoveries that really helped shape our story were reports of people being injured by ‘the spirits’ at the Davenports’ séances. It gave us a great starting point to explore darker, more mischievous characters with a propensity for violence.
MC: Is there something you are excited about seeing unfold on opening night?
CE: We are excited about bringing audience members into the actual séance itself. We tested this idea at a work-in-progress at the Tron last year. There is something immediate and tangible about witnessing the person who you entered the theatre with having this direct experience. It just wouldn’t be the same if it were a team of actors performing their participation in the act.
MC: Do you perhaps see any parallels between the Victorian times and now?
CE: I’ll bet séances and spiritualism have even more of a life and a following now than they did in Victorian times. It is ultimately about the offering of hope, and how could people ever stop investing in that? It would have been very easy to make a cynical piece of theatre, but that would have been hugely unsatisfactory. I hope what we’ve created is a celebration of human imagination and our ability to create ways of coping with grief and trauma.
The Infamous Brothers Davenport is currently playing at the Lyceum before touring to the Citizens in Glasgow and Eden Court in Inverness.
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