March 10, 2009
O'Reilly Theatre, Keble College, Mon March 9th 2009
One of the ironies of our 24x7 world is that whilst the absence of noise is the stuff of dreams, the sound of silence is the stuff of nightmares. S1L3NC3 (not his real name), who performed for a fascinated, largely student, audience at Keble’s O’Reilly Theatre on Monday evening is both a person and an idea. A child magician who developed a teenage fascination with psychological trickery is now maturing into an accomplished performer of a particularly dark form of “psychic magic”.
The opening was uneven and a little wordy, but once the magic kicked in, S1L3NC3 was in his element and gave a confident performance, dealing well with the occasional prop failure.
Drawing on influences as disparate as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and neuro-linguistic programming, this was a thoughtfully constructed show which made effective use of simple props, audience participation and a flying cat. (Although it has to be said that the unconventional uses of razor blades and staplers, whilst effective, were not for the faint-hearted.)
Everything was as transparent as possible, everything was achieved through nothing more than trickery, observation and misdirection and yet…
This was S1L3NC3’s first theatrical outing. He hopes to present a show in a professional venue (possibly the Playhouse) next summer. Provided he spends the intervening time polishing his delivery and his showmanship, S1L3NC3’s technical abilities and originality suggest that this is a performer whose progress will be worth following over the next few years.
