Reel Life Remount

By Alys Metcalf. A digital production directed by Adam Lenson

A Folio, ETT and Pound Arts Production

In loving memory of Andy Stables 1956 – 2022

“We’re celebrating the end of things and the beginning of other things. Fresh starts.”

At the edge of a remote riverbank, two unlikely strangers meet. Jo, a children’s writer, is teaching herself to fish. Mark, a dryly eccentric recluse, has come to practice his daily Tai Chi. In a different time and space, a lone stranger addresses a partner from a once happy relationship.

Performed and filmed live on location in Wiltshire, exclusively for a digital theatre audience, Reel Life grapples with themes of recovery, re-connection and loss – and what really lies beneath the surface.

This remount of Folio’s 2016 stage production gives Alys Metcalf’s beautiful play the new life it deserves and explores the relationship between theatre and film.

Quote from Artistic Director, Lizzie Stables
“Folio originally developed Reel Life in 2016 for a theatre tour in association with St James Theatre and Trowbridge Town Hall Arts. When the opportunity arose to create a filmed version for a digital tour – on location in our home, Wiltshire, where the play is also set – we relished the chance to bring the original team back together supported by our partners English Touring Theatre and Pound Arts. Our 2022 digital production of Reel Life was filmed in three locations, over three days, using a fixed rig. Each scene was shot from beginning to end in one continuous take, to retain the live theatricality of the piece.”

Reel Life contains themes of mortality and illness which may be triggering for some viewers.

Reel Life is available in BSL, with captions and in an Audio Described version.

If you are interested in booking REEL LIFE for a screening at your venue or school please contact office@foliotheatre.co.uk