Figment (2013) was a show about rites of passage and growing up. It is about what is true and what is not, about what we know and about the power of imagination. Created originally for Tramway One where it premiered in March 2013 it was then supported by Creative Scotland to tour nationally.
Through the process the company thought about the things they believed in as children and what happens when they discovered more about the world in which they lived.
Figment was set at bedtime, at twilight, the time between light and darkness. The world of fairy tails, cuddly toys and Peter Pan. The show was performed on a white dance floor with a large moon projected onto the back wall and a giant toy box at the front of the stage. The performers all wore their pyjamas and the show began with a spotlight on the youngest member of the company, Jess, who was 11 at the time, sitting on top of the proscenium brick wall dressed in a white fluffy animal onesie. Jess told the audience that she has always tried to imagine what it must be like to fly, like Peter Pan and other characters from story books. She says that she has always wanted to do it; she has always wanted to fly. As the show continues each time she says she is going to try she is stopped by an older member of the group and the show continues. Throughout the performance the cast discuss what they know and what they don’t know, ask questions about belief, imagination and adolescent, they play games, tell story’s and re enact favourite kids films all in an attempt to understand what it feels like to grow up. Right at the end of the performance when Jess is left alone looking at the large moon she stands up and abseils down the side of the wall. All of the props for this show were toys from the casts own childhood.