Sparkle and Dark continues its partnership with The Wellcome Trust to stage I Am Beast at Buxton Fringe before it transfers to Edinburgh.
The play “touches on themes of grief and adolescent mental health through innovative theatrical stylings”. Working with neuroscientist Jasmin Kroll, the company has explored how the edges of clinical diagnoses can blur with the idea of an active, childhood imagination where alternative worlds are often created as coping mechanisms.
Sparkle and Dark uses Bunraku puppetry and UV lighting to create an immersive world on stage. Company members have developed a large-scale, mechanised puppet cast in fibreglass for the piece.
Founded in 2009, Sparkle and Dark’s mission is “to make heart-crunching, nail-biting, pant-wetting theatre made from stories that connect to the deeper and darker parts of the soul”.
I Am Beast will be performed in the Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton from Thursday 23 until Saturday 25 July at 9PM.