Danielle OKeefe

THE LITTLE MERMAID was a passion project of Danielle’s staged at ATYP at midnight on Halloween. Danielle assembled an all-female, cross-age ensemble of girls to rehearse over a three-month process to self-devise a theatrical re-telling of the famous Hans Christian Andersen fairytale. 

 

In conceiving this project I wanted to create a cohesive ensemble of dynamic and talented young women who were dedicated to pushing boundaries. I have come across so many young women who have the capability and desire to really play in a theatrical world. The project was created in the room with the girls and the creative team. Mermaids is an experiment in creating an ensemble of females that all share a love for storytelling, music and the dark side of fairytales. I am passionate about working with young people in a professional rehearsal room as they relish the opportunity to have their ideas tested on capable performers. Working with a cross age ensemble has given us the opportunity to really look at the layers of complexity storytelling evokes. This process required the girls to respond to the stimulus individually and as an ensemble. Each girl has a story that begins and ends within the parameters of the show.  We invite our audience to look and listen to the different layers age and understanding brings to this classic dark tale. To interpret fairytales again as adults, is to see just how delicately layered they are. By working with girls of all ages, we are able to access the multiple interpretations of what are in fact stories layered to where an audience is able to access. Fairytales are often forgotten as people let themselves get older, the original story of the little mermaid has been glossed and polished, we have taken great joy in finding a ambitious, heroic, lost, lonely girl struggle to stay in the world she was born.