Lancaster theatre company's stately home Christmas

Imitating the Dog, whose work was most recently seen locally at Light Up Lancaster, have produced video-mapping projections and immersive soundscape designs for this year’s Christmas at Castle Howard extravaganza.

Most famous as the backdrop for the iconic period drama Brideshead Revisited, Castle Howard in North Yorkshire also featured more recently in Bridgerton.

Christmas in Neverland was chosen as its festive theme for 2023 featuring mermaid lagoons, pirate ships and fairy dust.

For the first time, Imitating the Dog was invited to join the team of Charlotte Lloyd Webber Event Design who create the magical installations inside the 300-year-old house.

“Although we've projected onto some amazing buildings, like Lancaster Castle and others up and down the country, this is the first time we've made a site-specific installation inside a stately home,” said executive director Julie Brown.

“We've been talking with the Howard family for a while about doing something there and when they contacted us earlier this year about Christmas in Neverland, we loved the idea and could really see how we could add some magic.”

The company has added video into some of the rooms where a bit of extra fairy dust is needed such as when the children first fly off to Neverland, Tinkerbell’s appearance and the mermaid lagoon.

Imitating the Dog’s composer James Hamilton has also created original soundscapes for each room.

The project did provide some challenges for the company including how to hide massive projectors in rooms full of period furniture and Christmas decorations.

One unforeseen difficulty was the movement of the very old floorboards caused by the audience walking through the displays which threw some of the projectors off balance, blurring some of the images. However, the issue was soon rectified once some of the projections were adjusted.

Since producing Dear Einstein in Dalton Square for Light Up Lancaster in November, Imitating the Dog has taken part in Wakefield Light Night with the outdoor installation LEAP.

The company is also working on its next touring theatre production – Frankenstein – which goes into rehearsal in January and will visit The Dukes in Lancaster in April.

Christmas in Neverland at Castle Howard runs until January 7.