Dear Darwin

•

Dear Darwin is an english theatre production, recently shown in Madrid, Spain. The play was directed and written by Spanish Actres Rebeca Cobos and Rick Limentani of Parlon Film. The play focuses on the aspect of bullying, notably online and gang bullying.

The play is mixed media with a heavy emphasis on projected artwork and animation fused with the live action of the stage creating a stylish, contemporary and unique blend of performing arts. The theme of 'Darwin' is attributed to the White Moth and Black Moth, who at varying times fitted in with their environments whilst the other was picked on by predators. This analogy is not so dissimilar from playground bullying.

The narrative follows the main character Keiran as he struggles with bullying at his local school, which cost him his girlfriend and what little friends he has remaining. Even his relationship at home with his mother is affected. Things look bleak for Keiran but then one day he is approached by Jason, a student in the upper year and the leader of a notorious and violent local gang who promises Keiran popularity and an end to the bullying. But first, Jason needs him to do a few things...

Main Poster advertising the play

Comic Design and Animation

Another part of the production required the use of comic frames projected onto the back wall of the stage. These frames were to compliment and reinforce the live action on the stage by showing up at intervals during the action. The action on the stage would start, then the lights go off and the comic is projected onto the wall complete with sound effects and animation that were added by the production team.

There were two different sets of comic created, one is darker and depressive, coloured with shades of blue and featuring negative body language to represent the bullying and isolation the protagonist experiences. The other is a brighter more optimistic approach with bolder colours to represent the change in the protagonists life as he makes friends with a local gang.

Both comics were to be the opposite of each other and so an inverted colour style was used.

Comic Part 1

Comic Part 2

Comic Animations

Once I supplied the comic artwork in .psd layers the production team started to animate them with Adobe After Effects using a style based on the illustrations. These were then finished and ready to be projected onto the huge back wall of the stage.

Animation of Blue Comic

Animation of Yellow Comic

Comic Pencil Drafts

Logo Design

I created a stylised logo for the production. I started off by hand drawing various designs before converting to vector in Adobe Illustrator. The logo had to have a hand drawn feel to it while at the same time being simple but stylish as well as eye catching.

Poster Design

I was also tasked with the design of a poster for the production. The poster was to be used online and in printed media, most notably in the giant wall posters seen in the photos below as well as the programme material. The poster had to capture the essence of a gang of school kids crowding in, appearing threatening. The leader controls the moth which is starting to break free. This draws a similarity with the main character of the play.