Moon River

About the Show

In a quiet cabin beside the River Findhorn in Scotland, a girl tries to remember how to tie a fishing fly. Feathers, thread, and memory twist together as the water whispers outside. As she moves through the familiar motions, the space around her begins to stir — objects wake, and the past flows in.

Moon River is a non-verbal, semi-autobiographical solo performance by Phoebe Hyder. It blends puppetry, movement, and immersive XR (extended reality) technologies to explore grief, memory, and the quiet, intimate ritual of fly fishing. Through a visual, sensory landscape, the story unfolds without dialogue — delicate, haunting, and deeply human.

The Story of the show:
Moon River began as a theatre piece aiming to answer the question: “Can I have a hug?”. A semi-autobiographical play, the story stems from Creator and Performer Phoebe Hyder’s own experiences processing loss and grief. The play explores those themes using the story of a girl who returns, after some time away, to a fishing cabin, where she tries to remember how to tie a fishing fly. The cabin is familiar, a place cemented into the girl’s memories of her childhood. As she attempts to ready herself to go fishing, the room around her starts to stir, the past flooding in to accompany feelings of bereavement. Is there a way through the storm, to find an answer to the question: “Can I have a hug?”

Phoebe was originally commissioned as part of Chichester Festival Theatre’s Emerging Artist programme to develop a piece which would answer that very question. With the support of CFT’s Creative Associate Sophie Hobson and Artistic Director Justin Audibert, the show began development at the start of 2024, with Phoebe and Co-Writer Dan Sareen spending a day in a rehearsal room, forming a first attempt at a structured story. Early ideas to explore the use of puppetry, projection and other elements of extended reality in the show led to development days with a variety of specialists including Creative Technologist Thomas Buckley. Composer Bill Vine provided a beautiful first score which the team worked with as we prepared for a short work-in-progress showcase. The presentation featured ideas by Set and Costume Designer Caitlin Mawhiney, who discussed the potential design of a full production, and culminated in a short performance of the first incarnation of Moon River. Combining Bill’s score, Thomas’ projections and a makeshift set was an essential way to realise what the show could look like for the first time, and the piece was elevated by Lighting Designer Connor Divers.

Following the sharing, Director David Gilbert came on board the project to guide the piece towards full production. During this next stage of development, Puppet Designer and Maker Holly Groves and Puppet Director Steve Tiplady helped to refocus ideas about the play’s characters and physical sequences, and of course, the puppets. Partnerships with Play Office and Portsmouth CCIXR followed, which were essential in the creation of the project’s XR aspects. After securing funding from Arts Council England, the team met for a 2 day sketch through earlier this year, which for the first time united Phoebe, Dan, Thomas, Bill, Caitlin, Connor, David, Holly and Steve in one room, working together to finalise ideas about story, visuals, and design.

Videography specialists Chewboy were on hand throughout this and other periods of development, to capture footage of the piece’s creation and interviews with the team. They accompanied Phoebe, David and Bill up to Scotland to capture field recordings at the river Findhorn, for use within the score. Before the rehearsal process, Artist Hattie Hyder provided sketches and videos capturing the feel of the show, which were used as materials in the production’s public announcement. As the project edged closer to performance time, Producer James Turnball, Production Manager Andreas Ayling & Stage Manager Emilija Varnaite joined the team, helping to coordinate between creatives and steer the play through rehearsals. towards its debut at The Nest at Chichester Festival Theatre in August 2025.

Special Thanks to:

Toby Hyder, Bower Wood, Luke Osbourne, Harry Payne, Harry Salter, Dan Hill, Sam Cole, Hannah Joss, Shari A. Jessie, Angela Mackenzie & the Festival Fridays Class, Boys Club Chichester, Peter Davison, Sarah Mansell, Sue Webb, Cawdor Estate, Katie Hennesy, Louise Rigglesford.

What is XR Theatre?

XR (Extended Reality) is an umbrella term for technologies that merge physical and digital worlds — including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and projection mapping. In Moon River, XR isn't just a visual spectacle — it's an emotional tool.

Using projection mapping, subtle sound design, and responsive digital environments, the cabin transforms: a wall becomes a river, a shadow becomes a memory, a flicker of light becomes a presence. These effects create immersive layers that shift with the performer’s movements, evoking the fluid, often fragile ways we experience memory, grief, and healing.

Rather than placing the audience inside a headset, Moon River uses XR to activate the space around them — drawing them in while allowing each viewer space to interpret, reflect, and feel.

Learn more about the Design:

The cabin itself was conceived as a living character—its weathered floorboards, moss-dappled walls and driftwood-hung lanterns shifting ever so subtly to mirror the girl’s memories and mood. Every nail, every faded sketch on the plaster carries the weight of childhood summers, so that when the space “wakes,” it feels like an old friend speaking in creaks and shadows.

Holly Groves’s puppets—hand-carved from lime wood and leather-stitched by hand—animate that world with delicate precision. Their joints whisper loss and longing, their feathers catch the light like ripples on the Findhorn, and their quiet movements turn everyday objects into storytellers in their own right.

All of this sits within a “green” theatre ethos—built, painted and powered in line with The Theatre Green Book’s sustainability and accessibility guidelines—so that the story of grief, memory and ritual can unfold in a space that honors both people and planet.

Creative Team