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Smoking Apples - We Are More Alike Interview

Award-winning puppetry and visual theatre company, Smoking Apples have partnered with Folkestone Harbour Arm to explore the changing face of Folkestone in their family show We Are More Alike. This outdoor theatrical spectacle with spellbinding puppetry has been created with the local community in mind. Since moving to Folkestone three years ago, the company’s creative team have been inspired by the town’s history of change and how it has always been a place that people have passed through, visited, moved to and moved from.

Audiences will be introduced to The Anthologists who have crash landed on the Kent coast, attempting to make sense of their unknown location. These explorers require the assistance of the audience to help them map out the past, present and the future. In doing so, everyone discovers that we are all more alike than we think we are. Exploring themes of migration and motion in human nature, We Are More Alike has allowed the company to understand the complexities and intricacies of their own hometown.


Smoking Apples 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. Smoking Apples first began a relationship with Folkestone in 2014 when they made and rehearsed their show, CELL. As part of the Creative Quarter’s drive to attract artists, the company rehearsed in the building that is now home to Bounce, at the bottom of the Creative Quarter, with the shop windows allowing people to watch their work.

Ahead of the show we caught up with the Smoking Apples team to learn more.

Where did your arts career begin?
I studied Drama and Theatre and Performing Arts at A Level and despite my lovely Dad telling me to do English Literature alongside this as a backup(cheers Dad)have studied and then worked in theatre ever since! 

Were there any people or performances that had a big impact on you?
At the time I first came across it fully, puppetry was really niche and puppetry for anyone other than young children was still a really new concept. Warhorse had just been performed for the first time at the National Theatre and I remember going to see it and just being completely awestruck at the beauty of the puppets, the ingenuity of the design, combined with a cracking story. I then came to know Handspring’s work better and they have had a huge influence on us over the years. We also love the work of Complicite and Improbable, who interweave human narratives with performance and puppetry, those kind of hybrid shows. 

Actually, one of my personal favourite shows ever is Mnemonic by Complicte, which is actually back at the National at the moment. Gah, this makes me sound really old doesnt it? Two of my favourite shows ever are back doing the rounds again, with Mnemonic playing now and Warhorse about to tour again this Autumn – haha! Oh well, it could also mean that they are brilliant pieces of work that have stood the test of time – so lets go with that!

Where did Smoking Apples begin?
Myself, Matt and Hattie, the three co-artistic directors of Smoking Apples Theatre trained together at drama school, on European Theatre Arts at Rose Bruford College. During our second year, we went on placement together, to Prague and studied Puppetry and Alternative Theatre. We didnt really know each other beforehand so this was huge turning point for us as we fell in love with puppetry and visual theatre, and better still, realised we could do it together. We formally started the company in 2010, when we graduated but we were working together as a collective across our final year of study. There have been so many people who have supported and nurtured us along the way though, you dont get to 14 years of running a theatre company without being surrounded by brilliant people. Were really luck to have incredible creative teams but also have been supported by some key people from venues who have backed us through all the nos and all the challenges; David Byrne (previously New Diorama Theatre, now Royal Court), Porl Cooper (legend of the North) and Samantha Lane (Artistic Director at Little Angel Theatre), to name a few.


What can you tell me about We Are More Alike?
Its so exciting for us to be creating a new show on home soil. Myself, Matt and George, from Smoking Apples, all live in Folkestone but this is the first show we are actually making here. Its about the beauty and intricacy of Folkestone as a place, a dive into the past and present and a look to the future, through the perspective of migration and movement. 

Where did the inspiration for We Are More Alike come from?
I dont think you can live in a coastal town and not be aware of some of the political issues around asylum. From our perspective, and from having a lot of conversation with people in the local area, it seemed strange that so many were really oversimplifying what is actually quite a complex argument. So, we thought, well, what we do at Smoking Apples is take complex subjects and use puppetry and visual theatre to unpack them in a fun and engaging way, so why not start do it with this.

How does the production fit in with the ethos of Smoking Apples?
Whilst our work uses puppetry and visual theatre as a form, our shows always have a central human heart; they are always about what it is to be human and the intricacies of that. One of our other current shows, Kinder, is about the Czech Kindertransport but of course also explores what it means to seek refuge and be on the move. I suppose this idea of migrancy, the pattern of people moving across the ages and it still continuing today is really compelling to us and something that we are of course revisiting now within our own coastal context, with We Are More Alike

How do you approach blending the storytelling and the puppetry together?
It can be tough to balance this but the most important consideration for us, is how the audience receive and interpret the work. So, in We Are More Alikeour two main characters are these other-worldly Anthologists, played by performers. They know nothing and so by them learning about Folkestone, we are able to re-explore it through new eyes. The puppets are then used to tell different parts of Folkestone’s story including Folca the Giant and seeing the Anthologists transform into puppet form to take part in their own ironic version of a Punch & Judy show.

What has been the biggest challenge of developing this piece?
The biggest challenge has been to dissect what is essentially a very complex idea and distill this into something that audiences can connect to. Theres no point in us creating something so factually specific that it turns into a critical documentary. We are visual theatre makers so we need it to be fun and engaging but we also have to be respectful of the sensitivity of the topic and by no means want to diminish the importance of it. Of course there is research and detailed fact in our show, there has to be but this is wrapped around a lot of fun and creativity with how this is delivered. 

What research did you have to do in writing and developing the show?
Its been hugely important to not make this work from our perspective only. Yes, we live and work in Folkestone but that is only one view, so weve made sure to give time and space to understand the myriad of different views, including the more challenging ones. We worked with some young refugees at Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN) to understand what its like to arrive in Folkestone as a modern refugee and then we undertook a community workshop at Folkestone Museum where we spoke to people about their views. Some of these were captured and are in the show. We also worked with brilliant local author, Ann Morgan, who has developed the script with us and interwoven many of these ideas together


What is a hidden gem in Folkestone?
There are so many hidden gems, it is ridiculous and I’m still discovering them! One of my favourites if the Lower Leas Coastal Park. Its beautiful and perfect in any weather. Ive enjoyed it in the pouring rain and the blazing sunshine!

What keeps you inspired?
Life! That sounds really cheesy doesnt it?! But when your subject is people, I don't think you ever really run out of things to be inspired by. I like talking to people, having unexpected conversations, hearing new ideas, even if they are challenging. I’m also genuinely really inspired by working with Matt and Hattie and our brilliant team of creatives. Each person brings their own unique perspective to what we do; some are more design led, some story based or sound, or music. Our WhatsApp group is a real carnival of random; an interesting podcast here, a photo of something someone saw on their way in to work that morning, a painting, a song, a life event, stupid memes. You name, its on there! 

What do you hope an audience takes away from seeing We Are More Alike?
Our first purpose is always to entertain our audiences and its really important that our work is accessible and digestible in the first instance. After that, I hope that people will consider migration from different perspectives at least, to see that this is something historically that has always happened and will continue to happen. It is part of the human condition.

We Are More Alike runs at Folkestone Harbour Arm on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th August 2024. Tickets are free. https://smokingapplestheatre.com/show/we-are-more-alike/

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