November 16, 2009
First warning: the O'Reilly theatre is very hard to find, hence I missed the short opening piece Ritual. Second warning: this is work in progress. The programme chunters on about how showing us the 'birthing process' is a 'precious gift' (yes, it's that sort of programme), but this isn't much consolation for some of the flaws on display.
The main event, Lullaby, is a tale of innocence lost and perhaps re-found with Barbara Baer as a young girl sold into the sex industry who achieves an ambiguous redemption. It didn't quite work: the tall, sinewy Baer is perhaps more disturbing skipping around and sucking her thumb than was intended and things tended towards the obvious (A solo to 'Roxanne'? Please...). Most of all it was far too long for such a well-worn tale, and it was really only Baer's considerable skill and energy that rendered it bearable.
Reflections of a Man featured company director Danny Scott expressing his musings on manhood through loosely connected routines to well known pop songs. These were done with humour and skill, and if Scott had simply come on and danced about to 'It's a Man's World', 'Mr Bojangles' etc. in various hats I'd have enjoyed it as unpretentious entertainment - the sort of thing Wayne Sleep did so well on TV variety shows in the 80s. Alas, I felt he ruined everything with mock-profundity and feeble segues, and by reciting his own poetry.
And then the evening redeemed itself with Masquerade, an ensemble piece about female identity and sexuality that could have taken on some of the length of Lullaby and still been compelling. The dancers made clever use of masks and symmetrical formations on a pretty much bare stage. The scriptwriting - broken, repetitive monologues that became part of the piece's rhythm - was excellent, as was the choice of music and the way songs overlapped chaotically yet still maintained their connection with the dancers. Sissi Tellechea's central performance gets a special mention - her physical characterisation of a young girl wavering between doubt and self-confidence was absolutely convincing. The warm applause at the end will hopefully tell the company that they've got a potential hit on their hands.
The main event, Lullaby, is a tale of innocence lost and perhaps re-found with Barbara Baer as a young girl sold into the sex industry who achieves an ambiguous redemption. It didn't quite work: the tall, sinewy Baer is perhaps more disturbing skipping around and sucking her thumb than was intended and things tended towards the obvious (A solo to 'Roxanne'? Please...). Most of all it was far too long for such a well-worn tale, and it was really only Baer's considerable skill and energy that rendered it bearable.
Reflections of a Man featured company director Danny Scott expressing his musings on manhood through loosely connected routines to well known pop songs. These were done with humour and skill, and if Scott had simply come on and danced about to 'It's a Man's World', 'Mr Bojangles' etc. in various hats I'd have enjoyed it as unpretentious entertainment - the sort of thing Wayne Sleep did so well on TV variety shows in the 80s. Alas, I felt he ruined everything with mock-profundity and feeble segues, and by reciting his own poetry.
And then the evening redeemed itself with Masquerade, an ensemble piece about female identity and sexuality that could have taken on some of the length of Lullaby and still been compelling. The dancers made clever use of masks and symmetrical formations on a pretty much bare stage. The scriptwriting - broken, repetitive monologues that became part of the piece's rhythm - was excellent, as was the choice of music and the way songs overlapped chaotically yet still maintained their connection with the dancers. Sissi Tellechea's central performance gets a special mention - her physical characterisation of a young girl wavering between doubt and self-confidence was absolutely convincing. The warm applause at the end will hopefully tell the company that they've got a potential hit on their hands.