Lagoon or Le Goon? Director Tom Fairbairn pondered the potential French pun in this year’s title – a double meaning seemingly unbeknown to even the rest of the cast and crew –and discussed the plans for the upcoming Footlights’ international tour. While joking that the show incorporates both the underwater qualities of Lagoon and the foolishness of Le Goon, Tom clarified that “the title of Lagoon is more of a stylistic and aesthetic decision rather than one to do with the narrative of the show”. But how did this mystical title evolve into a fully-fledged production?

The director explained that the writers spent a week together in Norfolk in the Easter holidays, during which time the raw material was produced and polished into a complete package. According to Tom, this year’s production promises to offer traditional sketches interwoven with some multimedia elements, including projections and use of the God Mic. They have also attempted to incorporate their own personal touches into the script. Writer and performer Sarah Creedy Smith and assistant director Dillon Mapletoft were nevertheless both adamant that the more obscure historical references encouraged by Tom had been kept to an absolute minimum.

While practising for the ADC stage is one thing, preparing the show for London and Edinburgh, to travel to America and the Cayman Islands, is another. Dillon assured me that, with over 60 shows scheduled during their two-month tour, they are committed to keeping the production as fresh as possible, adapting and creating new material along the way. They are equally determined to make their performance specific to each location, starting right here with their first of their two Cambridge runs. Lasting over two hours, this is the longest running time of any of the performances planned for their international tour. 

The director and assistant director gave a quick overview of the types of venues featured on their tour, which include comedy clubs in San Francisco and Los Angeles, theatres in Las Vegas and Chicago and universities such as Princeton and Carnegie. Tom pointed out that in America the style of comedy generally tends towards improvisation instead of scripted comedy, hoping for this experience to be an interesting learning exchange for the cast and crew involved. When asked about their plans to make their publicity mark on the States, they were not short on ideas: promotional videos, flash mobs and even each member of the team having control of the tour’s Snapchat account for the day seemed to be on the cards!

So amid all this speculation and planning, how would the cast and crew sum up the show? Sarah said that audiences should expected “bizarre costumes, slick choreography and creative sketches”, while Tom highlighted that there is to be “a fair amount of actual death, more implied death” with some guns and fights. They however agreed that there is something for everyone in the show. As a team, they care for each of their audiences and want to allow each member to identify and relate to its script and sketches in their own way.

Viewing their international tour – or, as Dillon best described it, their “creative odyssey” – across America as a learning curve, offering the scope for continual improvement and progress, the cast and crew are looking forward to entertaining and engaging with up to 20,000 people over the coming three months on their international tour.

Lagoon: The Cambridge Footlights International Tour Show 2016 runs from Tuesday 7th to Saturday 18th at 7:45pm at the ADC Theatre.