Lost Village

Our longstanding creative partnership with Lost Village festival has seen us produce 31 shows since 2016.  

We’ve worked with the festival’s creative leads to develop performances which fit within the imagined world of Lost Village, using theatricality and surreal rituals to create shows which mesmerise and amaze. Some moments are smaller and experienced only by a lucky few, others are massive and seen by thousands. Each year the trilogy of shows take place on consecutive days of the festival, with a narrative woven through them all leading to a spectacular denouement on the Sunday night.  

Here is a snapshot of a few of the shows we have created.  

In our third year, we produced shows in collaboration with Zest Theatre. Activation saw a lighthouse built on the lake come to life in a flurry of pyrotechnics and lighting with dancers and a clockwork man. In Magic Box, surreal couriers with a massive crate delivered a key before disappearing in a puff of smoke, In the final show, Lighthouse, the clockwork man used the key to wind open the lighthouse revealing his long-lost sister within. Reunited they danced, accompanied by pyro and special effects, before the walls of the lighthouse closed again, with both inside - and all was still. 

We began with Rarog Stone - a fiery procession to the lakeside where an ancient stone disc appeared to be floating on the water. A short film was projection mapped on to the stone: the film used almost entirely practical content rather than CGI, shot on a miniature 3D printed model of the stone disc. As the film ended, the stone disc burst into flames. Saturday’s show, Henge, centred around a henge built at the water’s edge and water screen projections out in the lake. Sunday’s finale, The Rune Stones, began with a procession bringing giant stone pillars across the festival site. These pillars were then lifted high into the air to form the Lost Village ‘marque’, and a performer stood on top of the stones, 20m above the crowd, to bid the festival farewell as fireworks filled the sky. 

We explored local mythology with shows featuring a mysterious white stag and a volunteer cast of forty.  

The first show, Summoning, had the audience gasping with surprise.  A strange coven processed to the sound of drums and encircled a patch of ground to perform a bizarre ritual - summoning a spirit from the earth. The earth spirit led the coven and the audience to the lake, and then he walked in until completely submerged, at which point the floating stage burst into flame. 

Saturday’s show, Glimmers, saw fires burning on the banks of the lake as a water screen projection of a white stag flickered across the lake.  

Sunday’s finale The White Hart, was a breathtaking performance around a giant animatronic puppet stag which made its way through the crowds to an oversized grand piano on a pile of earth beneath a full moon. An aerial performer on the moon sang as fireworks lit up the sky and full moon paper confetti fell to the ground.  

This year's story followed an isolated fishing village in the wake of a catastrophic storm. After losing their final boat, and their only lifeline to the mainland, the community gathered for a funeral in absentia to mourn their lost souls and their uncertain fate. But when a message broke through the silence revealing that their boat, Hope, was still afloat, the village embarked on a journey of miraculous recovery and survival to bring the vessel home. 

Friday evening’s performance saw the island villagers hold a funeral for both their lost friends and their final hope. To bring this surreal spectacle to life, we created a sombre nautical procession culminating in a floating funeral pyre, large-scale pyrotechnics, and ritualistic offerings to the sea. 

Saturday evening brought the first glimmer of hope to the island, culminating in a moment of collective light as hundreds of glowing messages in bottles drifted across the lake to our villagers. On Sunday evening Hope returned, sailing through the festival crowds, to be joyfully welcomed back by the island villagers. 

Throughout our time working on productions for Lost Village, we have worked with a host of amazing artists, creatives, designers, engineers, technicians, riggers, performers and volunteers to together create some truly surreal and spectacular experiences for audiences.  

We would particularly like to thank the brilliant Toby Ealden and Zest Theatre, with whom we collaborated from 2016 until 2019.