Jarman Garden
A Flaming Theatre production
Devised by Ben SantaMaria (previously Ben Gove), Cass Fleming and the company
Performed by Nicholas Chambers, Martin Hyder, James Hyland, Nadia Morgan, Sally Mortemore and Thomas Power
Directed by Ben SantaMaria and Cass Fleming
Scenography: Erik Rehl
Sound Design: Adrienne Quartly
Lighting Design: Mark Jonathan
Produced by Ben SantaMaria for Flaming Theatre in association with Riverside Studios
Supported by Jerwood Space
Ben had the idea for this show as a long-term fan of Derek Jarman. Their concept was a finalist for the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award. Ben then researched Jarman’s life and work further and developed the project with co-director Cass Fleming. They devised the final production with six performers. It combined choreography with fragments of text and song to explore Jarman’s trailblazing life and cruelly early death as an iconic queer artist, filmmaker, activist and writer. Adrienne Quartly’s multilayered soundscape was developed in the rehearsal room as part of the devising process. Design and original film from Erik Rehl (art director for Martin McDonagh’s Oscar-winning short film Six Shooter) and Jarman’s own footage added to the immersive experience, with lighting by multi-award-winning designer Mark Jonathan. The wooden stage was lifted off as the show progressed to reveal the Dungeness shingle beach where Jarman cultivated the garden of his legendary Prospect Cottage.
The production ran at Riverside Studios from February-March 2004 with a full retrospective of Jarman’s films and an art exhibition, commemorating the 10th anniversary of his death on 19 February 1994.
Read reviews and press articles for the show here.
Inside Prospect Cottage
As part of Flaming Theatre’s research for the production, the creative team was invited to Prospect Cottage by Jarman’s long-time companion Keith Collins, who inherited the property and maintained it until his own untimely death in 2018. Keith very generously spent time answering our questions in the cottage. Then he offered to lock us inside while he went out, leaving us to look at Jarman’s ornately illustrated notebooks while tourists stared in through the windows at us from the famous garden. An unforgettable afternoon.