Nomadic Tempest is set in the near future (2040) and tells the tale of four monarch butterflies from disparate corners of the world who’ve been displaced by climate change and are seeking a new home.
The story is presented on the Amara Zee, a tall ship that’s a replica of a Thames River sailing barge, and told through graphics and animations projected onto a huge screen (90 feet long by 40 feet high), and also by performers on two stages—the deck (eight feet above the water) and trusses (40 feet above the water). Aerialists spin and cavort on various apparatus and rigging amid and between them.
The 20 cast members are also the crew of the ship in between the cities they visit. Caravan Stage Company isn’t just a troupe of singers, actors, and aerialists living, working, traveling, and performing together—it’s a community. And to give that community a chance of survival and a level of harmony, “everybody has to be involved in almost all the aspects of Caravan,” says playwright/artistic director Paul Kirby.
