A Giant On The Bridge

Edinburgh Fringe – Assembly

A Giant On The Bridge is such a moving show. There’s a real humanity that is expressed in every moment, whether it’s through spoken word or song. Developed by the Distant Voices Community – a group that explores crime, punishment and reintegration through song-writing and other art forms- and devised by Liam Hurley and  Jo Mango, who alongside  Louis Abbott, Raveloe and Solareye act in various roles and provide musical and vocal accompaniment throughout the show. A Giant On The Bridge is an exploration of the experience of coming home from prison, told from the point of view of inmates and their families. 

A Giant On The Bridge is a verbatim theatre pieces that weaves a tapestry of devised spoken-word theatre, fairytale and music together to tell a tale of homecoming. There are 5 threads; Clem’s Story (written with input from Fergus McNeill, Rachel Fleming, Gordon McKean), Songwriter Story (written by Louise Abbott), D’s Story (Written by Solareye), Junes Story (written by Jill O-Sullivan) and the Giant’s tale which is based on a traditional story, written by Phil Crockett Thomas with Iain & Rachel Sermanni. 

“Brings tears to the eye.”

The main part of this show is the music, the songs that express these intense feelings of yearning, of isolation, of trying to work out your own intricate emotional threads. It’s told through the medium of actor-muso, and each song corresponds to a scene that is set up through words, adding depth or insight into a moment, giving us a better understanding of what that character is going through. It almost acts like a break between contrasting perspectives or relationships, to create a moment where we see what needs to be expressed but there aren’t words to do so. The characters talk to us throughout this show, but all we can do is watch it unfold, to watch them make their own way. They share their story, and we can be touched by it, but in that moment we are helpless to help them as much as we might want to. What is expressed through the songs is so raw and vulnerable; it does bring tears to the eyes, just hearing this complete honesty that is so rare.

There’s  also a real showmanship to these songs, to the point where they do sound like something we might listen to in our spare time with only the story contextualising them or giving them additional meaning. The music crosses genres, and despite the sitting-room like atmosphere of an indie/ folk gig, they reflect what is truest to the character at that particular moment.  There’s a solace to be found in the music, in hearing people express and share their deepest emotions, hopes and fear, being honest with themselves. There are some incredibly haunting moments in between the moving poignancy of the storyline. Because we hear from the characters themselves, we feel like we understand them completely and we can only watch as they don’t find the words to communicate it with each other. 

If we didn’t know what it was beforehand, A Giant On The Bridge would be like coming together to hear our favourite band perform. It’s over before we can blink but time passes when you’re having fun, when you’re brought into a world that you might not have thought about before hour. Definitely one of the defining shows of this year’s Fringe. 

By Katerina Partolina Schwartz

Photo Credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan