Drenched, a one man comedy piece inspired by Cornish folk tale The Mermaid Of Zennor comes to the Edinburgh Fringe 2018.
Drenched is a one man comedy – theatre piece inspired by ‘The Mermaid of Zennor’.
Dan Frost plays Daniel Drench, Cornwall’s most prolific and unstable storyteller,who presents his own bewildering and moving interpretation of this classic Cornish folktale.
With a combination of storytelling, character comedy and physical theatre, Drenched seeks to challenge the format of traditional solo performances. As Daniel Drench, Dan Frost leads the audience on a strange, hilarious and ultimately moving journey, aided by a truly atmospheric lighting design and a dynamic soundtrack which features traditional ballads and shanties from Britain and Europe as well as more contemporary instrumental pieces from some of the UK’s leading music makers.
Third Man are based between London and Cornwall and have a history of creating shows inspired by the South West.
Drenched also plays on writer Dan Frost’s real-life experiences of growing up in West Cornwall; it draws inspiration from the magic and mystery of the Cornish landscape, its folklore and its history.Drenchedalso uses ‘The Mermaid of Zennor’ as a vehicle to highlight mental illness, an aspect ofthe tale that isn’t always considered.
Director Eddie Elks comments, We wanted to bring a fun and fresh approach to the one-man storyteller genre whilst capturing the magic of the classic Cornish folk tale ‘The Mermaid of Zennor’. The character of Daniel Drench was the outcome-a complex and unstable Cornish storyteller, whose re-imagining of the tale takes his audience on a rather unique journey. Dan Frost is compelling as Daniel Drench. He’ll have you laughing one minute and while breaking your heart in the next.
Dan Frost is a compelling performer and his relationship with the audience is direct and joyous. I found it both funny and moving in equal measure. Above all, it turned out to be a poetic evening.
Using the simple device of a Cornish folk tale, he took the audience on a bigger journey that made us examine ourselves and come out of this wonderfully theatrical event feeling absolutely exhilarated (Michael Grandage CBE).
Drenched is written and directed by Eddie Elks and plays at the Pleasance Courtyard from 1 – 27 August 2018 at 3pm as part of the Edinburgh Fringe 2018.
