Smoking Apples Debut ‘Three’ – A Show on Family and British Life

Award-winning puppetry and visual theatre company, Smoking Apples Theatre are taking their latest productionThreeto select locations around the UK. For the first time, the company will be incorporating masks into the show to explore the family relationships of three neighbours.Threeevocatively blends puppetry, mask and storytelling to address the importance of intergenerational connections.

Smoking Apples Theatre deliver original puppetry and visual theatre, of the highest quality, to people all over the UK. The company don’t shy away from complex subject matter and use the current climate to form the basis of their work, with people and places at the heart of it.

For this brand new show, audiences are invited into the lives of three neighbours – Ida, an adventure-seeker turned Grandmother; Jaanvi, the head of an Indian family and Ralph, an ex-Military man, content in his solitude – who gather in the heart of every family home; the kitchen. The three neighbours share their experiences and uncover their personal histories, all whilst learning how to make the best cup of tea. Following on from each character and their families,Three profoundly captures the heartfelt bonds between grandparents and grandchildren, as these endearing tales touchingly resemble common experiences and dynamics shared across everyday families.  

Co-Director and Script Writer forThree, Molly Freeman commentsThree has been in development since 2023 and during this time, we’ve seen our own family structures change and grow; Grandparents have been lost, and some of our own parents have become grandparents. We’re so excited to be making a new piece about these family dynamics, the beautiful moments but also the heartbreaking ones too. The puppetry is stunning, heartfelt and tender in moments but also raw and real in others. Mask is a new venture for us but there has been something so wonderful about seeing how we can bring youth to an aged face and vice versa. It’s a real visual treat. Fundamentally, Three is a celebration of life, in all its forms; old and young, happy and sad, the big moments and the small ones.

Notably acclaimed for their ingenious use of puppetry to visually propel storylines and magnify human actions, Smoking Apples Theatre are expanding their repertoire with the introduction of mask work to their latest production.The addition of mask remarkably drives the exploration of aging in the three central characters, by dramatically showcasing these physical changes. Further use of physical storytelling is expressed through the moving carousel-like set, hosting the three kitchens, fluidly guiding the intertwining narrative between the neighbours and their families. Largely influenced by the company’s relationship with their own parents,Three serves as a powerful reminder that we need our third generation as they provide us with an unrivalled knowledge of the world, wisdom and experience that only comes from a life lived in full.

Main Image: Courtesy of Smoking Apples Theatre

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