The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer

30 May 2011-11 Jun 2011 ,

Theatre

A heartwarming tale about the end of the world

First published on 8 Dec 2010. Updated on 12 Jun 2011.

This event has finished

Walking a fine line between charming and twee, Tim Watts’s single-act show, The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer uses live drawing, animation, music and puppetry to tell a story of enduring love, loss and global warming. Watts plays the broken-hearted Alvin Sputnik, who must travel to a post-apocalyptic underwater world to retrieve his recently departed wife’s soul. In its watery depths he discovers abandoned skyscrapers, mysterious creatures and dark seascapes.

Utilising little more than a hand puppet, a laptop, a ukulele and some white gloves, Watts tells the story of Alvin Sputnik – whilst simultaneously managing the show’s lighting, sound and graphics and transitions between puppetry and animation seamlessly. Such is Watts’s skill that in a particular scene he uses only a plastic bag to conjure an alternative underwater world that completely alters the audience’s sense of scale and reality.

Wearing an all-black body suit, Watts was at his most compelling when emerging from behind the white screen and singing songs such as ‘Please Don’t Leave Me Tonight’ accompanied by ukulele. At times Watts relies a little too heavily on simple animated graphics but, with dollops of Tim Burton, a dash of Randy Newman, a little David Attenborough and a peppering of Greek mythology, Alvin Sputnik draws upon many references yet remains truly unique.

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Words by Monica Connors