CAUTIONARY TALE
A new musical about growing up and growing glum
Welcome to Gloaming!
Cautionary Tale is the story of Gloaming, a town filled with perfectly ordinary, yet perfectly remarkable people. The inhabitants of Gloaming all have special talents and interests; the Hamingtons, for example, know the answer to any question you can think of, the Bittingworth sisters are so strong they can lift an elephant and the Trockles can make pretty much anything you like out of knotted string.
Some talents can be pretty dangerous and it can be tricky to manage a town filled with such interesting people. One day, in the mists of time, the town elders decided that the best way to keep the town safe was to forbid anything that might be a bit too dangerous. The adults of the town have to suppress their talents and conform but it’s hard to live a life of stifled potential. There is one place where they can go to remember what it’s like to feel human - The Black Dog, an ordinary pub where it’s OK to be extraordinary.
But there are consequences to breaking the rules and there are consequences to living lives without fun. One day, the children of Gloaming wake up to discover that all the adults have turned to dust and blown away overnight; there just wasn’t enough joy left in them to hold them together. The children set off on a quest to find all the joy and talent and curiosity that was forbidden for so long so that they can rebuild their town with joy at its heart.
Cautionary Tale Covid-19 online workshop
After our work on Cautionary Tale was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic we asked the general public for help in workshopping the show during lockdown. We published the script and score online and asked folk to help us make it happen by acting it out in their own homes and sharing it on social media using #CautionaryTaleMusical. Check out some of the responses on our social media feeds or find out more about the project here…
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✨ To keep up to date with all our news, and to be the first to know what we're up to, head over to our website and… https://t.co/QOzO7DqNyT -
✨We're looking forward to developing I Will Still Be Dreaming by Catherine Dyson. Catherine, runner up of the Hope… https://t.co/mXTbS4HamX
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RT @WomensPlayPrize: The mission statement of The Women's Prize for Playwriting is to find the best new plays by women and produce them… https://t.co/vuzen0G593
Request a copy of the script & demos.
If you’d like to read the full script, listen to the show demos or watch a recording of our online reading, just drop us a line here and we’ll be happy to send you everything you need.
Cautionary Tale Model box by James Turner
Tour the set model
Our brilliant set designer, James Turner, has spent most of his lockdown crafting a perfect scale model of the set of our dreams.
In this video, he gives us an informal glimpse of the set and the world of Cautionary Tale as we imagine it.
The team
Rebecca Applin
Music
Rebecca is a Composer for theatre, dance, radio and screen, with particular loves for musical theatre and actor-musicianship. She was the Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer Award holder at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, and Mercury Theatre, Colchester. Recent commissions include The Beauty Parade (Wales Millennium Centre), Hourglass (The Mayflower Theatre) and Puss In Boots (Chipping Norton Theatre – score nominated for Best Music in the Great British Panto Awards).
Rebecca Atkinson-Lord
Book & Lyrics
Rebecca is a hybrid theatre maker who writes, directs and produces theatre across the UK and internationally. Writing for stage includes: How To Live Dangerously, The Class Project and Snowballing (UK tour). Recent Directing includes: Cuddles (Arch468/Ovalhouse & 59East59 New York), Dead and Breathing, MilkMilkLemonade, The Sluts of Sutton Drive (Arch468), Fosterling, Work/Play (Ovalhouse), Yvette (China Plate) and The Crunch (LookLeftLookRight). From 2010 – 2016 she was Director of Theatre at Ovalhouse.
Mark Iles
Choreographer
Mark trained at The Central Ballet School and Arts Ed London, and has worked as a performer and choreographer for the last fourteen years. Performing credits include: Original West End cast of Elf the Musical (Dominion Theatre), Original cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane): Lord Battersby in Me and My Girl (Kilworth House Theatre), The Diction Teacher in Singin’ in the Rain (UK tour), Angel in Rent (English Theatre, Frankfurt), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK tour), Oliver! (London Palladium). Choreographic credits include: The Last Five Years and Tin Pan Alley (Cosson’s Performing Arts), Milk Milk Lemonade (Arch468/Ovalhouse), Romeo & Juliet (Arch468).
James Turner
Designer
Designs: Dan and Phil: Interactive Introverts (Hammersmith Apollo/World Tour), Clybourne Park, End of The Pier (Park Theatre), Great Expectations (Malvern Theatres/UK Tour), Blush (Soho Theatre/UK Tour), Before The Party (Salisbury Playhouse), Home Truths (Cardboard Citizens), Educating Rita (Hull Truck), Dan and Phil: The Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire(London Palladium/World Tour), Toast (Park Theatre/UK Tour/59E59 New York), A Further Education, State Red(Hampstead Theatre), Brenda (Hightide Festival/The Yard), Cuddles (Arch468/Ovalhouse/UK Tour/59E59 New York), MilkMilkLemonade (Arch468/Ovalhouse).