A Sea of Troubles

The Yard Theatre

Reviewed – 12th February 2019

★★★★★

 

“a work which touches the soul”

 

A Sea of Troubles is directed, written and performed by Peter McMaster, with choreographic and dramaturgical support from Louise Ahl. It is a work which defies categorisation, and is all the stronger for it. McMaster and Ahl have created a world which slips and shifts, expands and diminishes like the intake and exhalation of breath, and with the expansive logic of a dream. We see what McMaster shows us, on this blank stage, whether it is the men he so powerfully describes, dancing or moving together in performance, or intimate scenes from his own life. And, like a drawing in which everything is described with a single line, or a sculpture in which space itself becomes a part of the object, A Sea of Troubles is a work which makes us pay attention to what exists in the gaps – between words as we say them and what they describe; between being and performative being; between what is and what seems.

McMaster takes us with him on an exploration of what it is to be a man, a father, an artist, and simply a human being, and reminds us of the fragility of ourselves, created as we are in large part by language and memory. He moves beautifully, sometimes with lightness, sometimes filled with almost unbearable weight, but each gesture and shape is imbued with meaning and purpose. His body always has a seriousness of intent, which holds him to this earth, in a way that language cannot.

There are some lovely funny moments in the piece – moments of direct childhood memory which hit the chime of personal recollection for the audience – but ultimately it is as its best when it embraces its own emotional intensity. At these moments, it is a work which touches the soul.

 

Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw

Photography by Maurizio Martorana

 

 A Sea of Troubles

The Yard Theatre until 16th February as part of Now 19 Festival

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

A Kettle of Fish | ★★★ | September 2018

Moot Moot | ★★ | October 2018

Super Duper Close Up | ★★★★★ | November 2018

24 Italian Songs and Arias | ★★★★★ | January 2019

48 Hours: | ★★ | January 2019

Call it a Day | ★★★ | January 2019

Hotter Than A Pan | ★★★★ | January 2019

Plastic Soul | ★★★★ | January 2019

Cuteness Forensics | ★★½ | February 2019

Ways To Submit | ★★★★ | February 2019

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com