Life is spectacular. This is the sentiment with which Hugh Hughes would have you leave his second show, The Story of a Rabbit. And he does, emphatically.
Having seen Hughes marvellously innovative and award-winning Floating at last years Fringe and then again at the Barbican his all-important second show was hugely anticipated. As I had expected, Hughes (whose work is indebted to Hoipolloi Artistic Director Shon-Dale Jones) does not disappoint. Contrary to disappointment, I have instead come to the conclusion that he is a visionary for our multimedia age.
Hugh Hughes cuts a remarkably endearing figure as he bounds around the stage imparting his wisdom, telling the intertwining stories of his fathers death, and that of a rabbit.
As the audience enter, they are welcomed by the man himself and warmly shaken by the hand: he is delighted that theyve come along. Hughs friend Aled, wearing a t-shirt saying knowledge and experience, plays the audience in with a keyboard. He accompanies the whole show using various instruments, in addition to operating the lights, the sound and a projector. He sits on the right-hand-side of the stage, to remind Hugh which show he is doing, as my friend Sioned sits on the left for Floating.
There follows an apologetic pre-show note from Hugh, By the way, we havent started yet, shortly followed by a second apology, Sorry to interrupt you if you were talking. This brief moment captures so much of what makes both Story of a Rabbit and Floating so charming, warm and massively entertaining. Our host wants to tell his story, but wants to make absolutely sure were following and is only telling us because he believes it will enrich our lives.
The show begins. A cup of tea is distributed to one carefully selected audience member. Hugh would have liked to pour us all a cup, but it would have taken too long. We are then taken on a surreal, vibrant, totally engaging and as promised surprisingly uplifting journey through Hughes recollection of events surrounding his fathers death and that of a neighbours rabbit in Anglesey. To tell these interweaving stories, he puts to good use a flip-chart, a potato, some planks of wood, a projector, an Apple Mac, a car tyre, a telephone, various audio clips, family photos and, of course, his best friend Aled. Aled, Hugh tells us, was the first person he talked to after he heard that his father had died.
This is post-multimedia performance. We are given a running commentary on choices that have been made, why certain technology is used, what effect it has on the story and why Hughes has chosen to include certain idiosyncratic details and omit others.
As Hugh concludes by describing his fathers ascent up to Heaven (at an angle of 6 degrees) we feel sincere gratitude that he has shared his story with us. And what a fresh, insightful, fun and thoroughly uplifting story it is. Told by a masterful storyteller.
