Fishermen’s Farewell (Walkabout)
@ Newport Live Act Fringe Festival 2026
Three fishermen have washed up far from sea to seek YOUR help! Find the crew and help them offer their catch of the day to the mighty Sea Cods. Through shanties, rituals and slippery mischief, join in sending their prized fish on a journey into the next life. A walkabout performance in Newport City Centre.
In 2025, OST created ‘Fishermen’s Farewell’ for Wilderness Festival. This year, we wanted to see if we could create an outdoor walkabout version of the show for Newport Live Act Fringe Festival 2026.
This piece is bookable for future festivals. Images below by Pippa Kemp
From Installation to Walkabout
In 2025, OST created a Fishermen’s Farewell for Wilderness Festival, and were set the brief of creating an immersive durational experience inside a garden shed. This piece was a four hour interactive performance, combining comedy skits, facilitated activities and installation performance.
This year, we wanted to see if we could create an outdoor walkabout version of the show. On Sunday 22nd Feb, we met, rehearsed, performed and evaluated this new version all in the space of around 8 hours. How did we do it?
A simple solution was to scrap two thirds of the props and set and chuck the rest in a trolley! However, there was much more to think about when adapting the piece. How could we reel (see what we did there?) audiences in without the mysterious and comforting setting of our fishermen’s cabin and create a similar immersive experience on the high street?
Sustainability of Performance Work
Creating performance pieces which can be repeated enables us to recycle props, set and costume, and therefore be more sustainable. We can now transport the show with just a festival trolley (it having previously required 2 cars!)
On departing Newport, we felt pleased that we’d managed to convert the piece into a successful walkabout performance which engaged many members of the public. As OST look ahead to perform at more fairs and festivals, it is brilliant to have a clear tourable show and a ever growing ambition to engage with people in silliness and play as they go about their everyday routines.
Please do reach out if you want to discuss this piece further, or if know of a setting where Captain, Jack and Tom would fit in!
Huge thank you to Newport Live Act Fringe Festival organised by Tin Shed Theatre Company for welcoming us again this year.
Set, props, games, perform!
First, we focused on key visual elements that would make us stand out on the street; life rings, nets, our wooden ladder and fisherman's costumes. Using these props to create an initial draw, we adapted sketches from our original show into games which passers-by could engage with. For example…
FISH SLAP: Guess the species of the fish when it slaps you on the cheek!
FISH WANG: Wang a sopping wet fish into Captain’s bucket!
COD OFFERING: Catch street furniture or items offered by the public in pit net to give to the sea cods in exchange for good fortune for the fishing year ahead!
Once audiences were engaged in these easy games, we performed more complex interactions with them and reincorporated scenes from our original show into the piece. We had lots of intimate and one-to-one interactions, which were shaped and in response to the individuals we met along the way. You may have heard of the “yes, and” approach in improvisation. This is something we try to adopt when working with audience members, so we can try to create a meaningful experience for everyone we engage with.
