About

The Wordcatcher was our third production and was born out of development scratch at The Lyric Hammersmith in 2012. The focus of the scratch was love stories and so we chose to look at how love might work in the most challenging of circumstances. We took great inspiration from the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and this sparked the idea of using a physical and mental lack of communication as the basis of our love story. With the addition of a little puppet Emma, a miniature version of the central character, we were able to explore and a create a metaphorical world to run alongside the real one.

The initial response was brilliant and so we continued to develop the show with the support of the Blue Elephant Theatre and Creative Youth, Kingston.

We performed The Wordcatcher a number of times throughout 2012 and 2013, at the International Youth Arts Festival in Kingston, Battersea Arts Centre’s Freshly Scratched, the Blue Elephant Theatre, the Brighton Fringe Festival 2013 and finally at Pleasance, Islington as part of Suspense London Puppetry Festival 2013.

Reviews

“They have a unique vision and great deal of flair” – Views from the Gods

“There are expressive dances like the wonderful book-swapping dance, enchanting and disturbing piano music and impressive puppetry work. All three actors are also skilled puppeteers and make the bird and Emma’s little twin come alive. They are so touching that you want to befriend them immediately.” – UK Theatre Network, Carolin Kopplin

“If you haven’t experienced a Smoking Apples’ show yet to enlivened your imagination, I suggest you do so as early as you can. It’s wonderful to experience.” – London Fringe Review, Josey de Rossi