Given that there are 2500 shows being performed in Edinburgh on any given day this month, it’s a rare thing indeed to find one that is truly original.
The Adventures Of Alvin Sputnik is one such show. Inventive, charming and magical, it’s set in a world where the seas have risen, billions have died, and the last, desperate survivors live on tumbledown farms atop mountains and skyscrapers.
Floating islands sank, space probes found no refuge, and the giant sponges visible from the moon are rotting symbols of failure.
Alvin Sputnik lives in one of these precarious mountaintop houses, inches above the lapping waters. When his ailing wife dies, her soul rises from her body in a ball of light, before plopping into the ocean and sinking.
Desperate to be reunited, Alvin signs up for a dangerous underwater mission the last government on Earth is seeking volunteers for a perilous journey to the bottom of the ocean in search of a rumoured haven that exists inside an underwater volcano.
This simple story is told through animation, live action and puppetry, which are blended in a tale that has a timeless feel.
We follow the animated Alvin’s progress on a circular screen as he swims through the depths. As he breaks the edge of the screen, the puppet Alvin swims out onto the stage and the adventure continues.
The action is accompanied by a gentle mandolin track, which is live during the animation sections and recorded when the show’s solo performer Tim Watts is doing the puppetry sections.
The Australian who also created the story, directs, produces and did the animation is a whirlwind of activity. He came up with the show in 2009, and it’s won a raft of awards and glowing reviews since then.
And rightly so. It’s a gentle, funny and beautiful tale, deftly told, that leaves you walking out of the cramped little room it’s performed in with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
The only thing I can think of that’s remotely comparable is the equally enchanting animated film Wall-E. If Pixar had a theatrical division, they might come up with something like this.
The Adventures Of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer is at the Belly Button, Underbelly Cowgate, at 6pm until August 28 (except August 16).