The Wardrobe Ensemble on their latest show

After taking us back to the age of polyester and glam rock in 1972: The Future of Sex, The Wardrobe Ensemble return this September with Eloise and the Curse of the Golden Whisk, their magical devised show for ages 7+. 

The year is 1944. In the depths of a dusty larder in the bombed ruins of a restaurant, our heroine Eloise finds a beautiful, golden whisk. But when she clutches the shimmering relic, she unleashes an ancient curse. The only way to free herself is to cook the tastiest dish in the world.

With time running out, Eloise scurries into the broken city’s underworld, undertaking extraordinary feats to gather the ingredients and discover the recipe. But with a rabble of greedy gangsters also chasing the whisk, will she succeed in evading its curse?

Here are directors and cast Helena Middleton, Jesse Meadows, Tom Brennan, Kerry Lovell and James Newton to introduce the show.

How hard is it to write a show that can appeal across a broad age range, as this one clearly does?
In all our work, we try to create strong narratives and engaging characters – and we find that, if we get this right, it appeals to all ages. Stories, humour and emotions are universal – so, if you make something that you find moving, funny and exciting, the chances are audiences will feel that too. Pixar is the perfect example of this: they create films which both adults and children enjoy because they always keep humour and human stories at the heart of their tales. With Eloise…, we have striven to do this too.
The show is set in 1944 so all the references are to that time period, including Gum Chums (American soldiers who used to hand out candies), the Spivs (black market traders) and lots of spam! We use lots of rip-roaring physicality which appeals to all – including an epic plane chase, a big old school town hall dance and a sequence where Eloise is thrown around the kitchen by a cursed whisk!

Must be the first theatre piece to feature a whisk at its centre. How do you alight on this particular kitchen utensil?
When we originally conceived the show we were going to have a golden ramekin – but we soon realised that that was a rather obscure object and not everyone knew what it was! So we decided upon a whisk.
Eloise, the main character, is a chef so we wanted an object which would be essential in helping her cook – but could also be very silly! As the whisk gets attached to her hand, it has lots of comedic potential. It does mean we’ve had to do a special ‘whisk assessment.’

The show’s set in 1944, and for the Wardrobe Theatre run you’ve transposed it from its original Exeter setting to Bristol. Tell us about those time and place choices. 
We originally made the show in Exeter and so we set it there so the audiences, especially children, would feel connected to it. Both Exeter and Bristol were badly affected in the Blitz and we were inspired by the characters we would find in the bombed ruins of a city – the dodgy black market dealers, for example.  
We are now moving the setting to Bristol for this run. It’s a dock town, so there were lots of migrants – and our central character, Eloise, has escaped from France. During the war we had people from all over world coming in – American GIs, Europeans from all parts of the continent – and we were interested in this merging of cultures. It was during the war that the first real coffee came to the UK. We’ve had lots of fun researching the history of Bristol in order to locate it here.
We were also interested in telling a story set in a tired city at the end of five years of war. It is set in a restaurant and, by this time, there was a severe lack of good food – rationing gave us lots of storytelling scope. We also wanted to create an environment where there could be a culture clash between a passionate French chef and the very British rationing culture. We were also inspired by romantic war films like The Third Man, which have a very particular aesthetic.

What thoughts and sensations do you hope to send audiences away with? 
A spring in your step and love in your heart! Shared humanity! Joy! Uplifting! Romance! A zest for the kitchen! Culinary passion! It’s a fun, outlandish joyful show with a strong heart.

Is there a general philosophy that underpins all Wardrobe Ensemble shows?
We want to make people laugh and think in equal measures. We want a balance of light and dark. We make multi-disciplinary shows with movement, live music and acting: we strive to create a live experience that cannot be accessed through other mediums. We also believe in collaborative theatre: the show was devised by the cast and is the product of our merged hive minds. We also wanted to make a show which was very playful and magical for all ages. We entered the rehearsal room in a state of curiosity and playfulness: we hope this can be seen in the show.

Eloise and the Curse of the Golden Whisk is at the Wardrobe Theatre from Sept 6-17. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/eloise-curse-golden-whisk