Widening the Scope - Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance - page 329

The cast of Habeas Corpus at the Altrincham Garrick.
Add some Morris dancing, whose cheerful English absurdity always raises a smile, and
everything fell into shape with a satisfying clunk. When the imagery works for the piece I get
excited. A maypole set in a country green seemed perfect, allowing space for the cast to run
round, and it would be easy for a stretched crew to build. A maypole led me to think of garden
fêtes, and the general buccolic atmosphere worked well for the play. With fêtes come bunting
and balloons, and with balloons come more sexual innuendo, and since the play is obsessed
with breasts, this was all making sense. I disciplined myself to make everything work with
either balloons or the maypole. A character tries to hang himself, and initially the idea was for
him to swing right across the stage, but getting the necessary harness and safety issues sorted
out well in advance would have been time consuming. Hanging from the maypole might be
messy with the ribbons, but ribbons got me thinking about ribbons attached to balloons. If the
character entered clutching a balloon, and let it l oat up, jerking appropriately, then that seemed
a good visual comic moment, expressing the hanging within the context of the design and the
production, and without any safety issues. It was original and got a huge laugh. Likewise, a long-
awaited arrival of a much discussed pair of false breasts became a round box that split in two,
revealing two very pink balloons. This got a laugh bigger than if we'd used a literal appliance.
Their very fakeness was much more revealing about the absurdity that something literal. I found
a million uses for balloons and the maypole, all the while keeping things utterly simple.
The show-stopping false breasts of Habeas Corpus .