Cirrus@Austlit

'Boats is a story about a man called Jof, told by his friend Nic. The two of them are life-long friends and sailors. They met through bizarre circumstances involving a chicken, a deserted island and a sombrero. It is a story of two mariners fleeing their past and embracing adventure. The play is enacted with puppets, acrobatics and sound effects created on stage with two microphones, one of which goes in water. Nic begins the story by blowing up a balloon and squeaking it into a microphone. He records this and the audience hear this sound played back as a "loop". He then blows into the microphone and loops that too. These two sounds are heard together, creating a strange but alluring effect. Throughout this Nic has been telling us about Jof, who is silently sitting on a chair working with a rope. When Jof stands up he reveals a bird which he has made by tying knots in the rope as Nic talks. The audience then see a bird and realise the sounds that they hear are the sounds of birds and the wind and sea.