A nature walk and an unsolved disappearance collide in this mystical and mysterious new production set and performed on the edge of the city centre.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Sweet Briar Marsh is the spiritual and literal home of Edgeland, produced by Limbik Theatre and supported by Norwich Theatre as part of their Beyond strand, which takes theatre to new settings.
The show is a promenade performance, with the audience walking through the marsh wearing headphones as the story of the disappearance of Amanda – last seen at the site itself – unfolds around them.
The narrative is told in one-sided snippets of phone calls and conversations, or re-told by live performers as fantastical embodiments of the marsh’s flora and fauna: gorse appears as gold-faced lushes, staggering around with wine bottles in hand; green and blue damselflies flutter and boast in French accents of eating men. It’s surreal to say the least.
While the audio has been exactingly recorded and in parts makes great use of spatial sound effects to appear as if voices are arising from all around you, the wireless headphone tech doesn’t always deliver a reliable connection. Together with the already fractured narrative, this makes some of the story tricky to follow.
The plot itself blends social realism with mystical elements – drawing on the amazing age of some of the species and features of the marsh to cast human involvement in a stark perspective. This makes it a little confusing as to whether our actions, and those of the characters, are actually supposed to be consequential: does one person’s selfish moment matter in a timeline of millennia?
The show is inventive and interesting, particularly the ‘David Attenborough’ moments that explain some of the ways ecosystems have adjusted over time to survive, and celebrate the richness of the marsh. Following their example though, it perhaps needs to evolve a little more to really thrive.
- Edgeland continues at Sweet Briar Marsh as part of Norwich Theatre Beyond until 15 June 2025.
