IF LOCKDOWN proves anything, it’s how the imagination helps escape the humdrum and make sense of lives in free fall.

Virtual meeting place Zoom has not only become the new normal, communication-wise, but a powerhouse of creativity.  And the Big Telly Theatre Company, brainchild of founding artistic director Zoe Seaton, has been quick to explore its potential.

Operation Elsewhere, written by Jane Talbot and directed by Seaton, uses online technology with wizardry and flair while employing the interactive techniques of live theatre to take us on a journey into a mythical space between the “tick and the tock” of ordinary time.

In the faery world of Elsewhere, there are changelings and a strange, wild anarchy only normally experienced in dreams. Though Irish in origin, the experience is widely based in the kind of myth and legend essential to all fairy tales.  It is uplifting and a genuine escape.

Almost 60 people Zoomed in for this showing, most of whom were sharing with family or friends. We could see each other and were invited to participate by “fighting,” using mobiles, roaring and hiding our watches and clocks to dispense with the passing of time.

The audience, many of them children, were hugely participative, and the play is perhaps especially appealing to those for whom gaming is a way of life. For its encouragement of bonding and time-consuming activities, it’s a boon for desperate parents.

The young cast are energetic, charismatic and skilled, and the technical genius of Sinead Owens, combined with the music and sounds of composer Garth McConaghie, open up a magician’s cave of all that is possible in this newfound medium.

The Narnia-like terrain of Elsewhere, with its sweeping woodlands and sparkling snow merging into the green of springtime and back again, is hugely evocative, as is the wild and dangerous persona of Nicky Harley as the guide Scatha.

Theatrical events on Zoom are in their infancy and, while the sum total of talent and imagination in this piece is impressive, it feels more like an early stage in the creative process rather than a clearly realised work of art — as yet.  

Pleasurable escapism for kids, though, and a fitting advert for theatre on this platform. Well worth the operation.  

For performance dates and times, visit big-telly.com