The Deluge extended cast
Who joins our extended cast?
The Deluge is brought to life by its Extended Cast. They are a vital part of the performance who help to create the immersive environment that makes the show so special.
What is The Deluge?
The Deluge is about an oncoming flood that is heading toward the city. The local community has been evacuated and sent to its local safe house (the venue). Inside the safe house we follow the journey of our characters who, within the hopelessness of the situation, find hope through the support that emerges between strangers.
Whether the building will with stand the wave, the characters don't know, no one knows. So, with only the clothes on their back, they find themselves asking what has been lost, and what was there left to lose? But in these dark hours they start to understand how the strangers around them, and the contents of a mysterious unclaimed bag, might offer them all the hope, and the love they need as the sea returns.
The Deluge is an immersive experience inspired by recent UK events of flooding and torrential storms. Each performance transforms a venue into a fictional world, with four breath-taking performers and a supporting cast from the local community. The Story has been developed with a writer called Nick Walker and the show has an original soundtrack written by Dougie Evans.
What does it mean to be an extended cast member?
Being a member of the Extended Cast is an opportunity to work alongside professional performers within sections of The Deluge. It's a rare opportunity for people from the local community to experience the workings of a professional company coming to a venue near them. The extended cast will be supported to develop their performance skills and professionalism through taking part in the event under the direction of the company directors.
The Extended Cast, alongside the cast of four Lîla dancers will take part in the opening section of the work. This is a section where the audience members walk through the performance space amongst the performers. The performers will be working with both movement and theatre devices to create a community of people who are thrown together in a safe house to await the oncoming tsunami. This section allows performers to flex their acting and physical skills in the creation of this imaginary world in which they may find themselves interacting with an audience member which includes their family and friends!
After this section, the Extended Cast will also re-enter the performance alongside the core cast on a few other occasions throughout the show. Different members of the Extended Cast will appear in different sections in order to support their level of skill and experience.
Please note that the Extended Cast is not present onstage throughout the whole show. They are valuable members of our production who, within the intensive time we are able to work with them, emergence submerge to colour the narrative of The Deluge.
The Deluge is a national touring production and has a different Extended Cast at each venue. It's therefore vital that the work both invites the Extended Cast into the world, and in a way that enables the work to maintain high production values for its audience.
Photo credit: Photo and cover image by Dave Keightley. Dancers: Sarah Golding and Bradworthy community cast performers
