Edinburgh Fringe 2012
Salvi and the Box of Dreams
Hinge Productions
Genre: Drama
Venue:
Hill Street Theatre
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
With three pieces of surrealist artwork used as inspiration, the notion of not fulfilling your dreams is explored in an enjoyable 45 minutes.
Review
‘Salvi and the Box of Dreams’ appears to be a simple story about an old man, Salvi, who has locked his dreams, and paintings, away in a wooden chest, resulting in a lost passion for life. The much more youthful and energetic Kush, who reveres Salvi, witnesses a number of surreal dream figures escape from the box. As the dreams are set free, stories told, and paintings revealed, Salvi’s appetite for life is renewed.
The inspiration for this piece clearly comes from the surrealist paintings of Salvadore Dali and Vladimir Kush, and the depth of the motifs throughout the performance is quite astonishing, particularly given that the target audience is 4-10 year olds. It was this depth, however, that kept my interest, and those of the other adults in the audience, whilst the younger ones remained attentive listening to the stories, laughing at the snoring old man and watching the pretty butterflies.
With the performance set in the house of Salvi, the intimate meeting room (where the show is on) creates the perfect atmosphere. The use of a large chest as the Box of Dreams is an obvious one, but a number of square plastic containers and smaller trunks are also well utilised throughout. Dream-catchers are strung over the 3 paintings at the rear of the set, and these are moved to the side to reveal each piece of artwork after their story is told.
As the performance ends, we are left with some very important messages: “Your imagination has immense power to inspire others” and “you can be anything that you want to be”.
This is an enjoyable 45-minute piece, with a beautiful message, performed by an enthusiastic and talented young cast.
