My second major “graphic novel ballad” created with illustrator James Edwards and The Cabinet of Living Cinema, The Kingdom of Paul Nash tells the story of surrealist, landscape painter and war artist Paul Nash through the medium of a projected graphic novel with a live score.

Further developing the format of 2015’s Theatre of the Wandering West, I art directed and edited the project, bringing band founder Kieron Maguire’s script and James’s images to life using 2.5D animation techniques.

The show is a fantasy biopic, focusing on Nash’s experience in the trenches of World War One and the post traumatic stress he suffered as a result, before introducing fellow surrealist Eileen Agar, who encouraged him to find redemption through art in the years afterward.

The band performed a live score incorporating music and foley, and we incorporated a live feed “rockpool” video art performance which I operated onstage, made from a tank of water, air pump, waterproof LEDs, pebbles and found objects.

The show has toured London and Nash’s area of interest, the Dorset coast.

Written & Directed by Kieron Maguire | Animation Tom Brown | Illustration James Edwards