Tag Archives: Amber Woodward

Dystopian Dream

Dystopian Dream
★★★★★

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

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Dystopian Dream

Dystopian Dream

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Reviewed – 27th November 2018

★★★★★

“a hybrid piece of dance-musical theatre with as much emphasis on the tech as the physical performers and music”

 

Dancers Honji Wang, Sébastien Ramirez and vocalist Eva Stone bring Nitin Sawhney’s 2015 album Dystopian Dream to life in this compelling performance. This fusion of hip-hop, contemporary ballet and aerial work accompanied by live singing, artful visuals and beautiful costumes is a feast for eyes and ears.

Sawhney has written scores for TV and film as well as releasing multiple studio albums, with his full body of work earning him the 2017 Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award. Sawhney has composed music for the Sadler’s Wells stage before, having worked with Akram Khan since 2002. Where Dystopian Dream differs is that the dance performance has been born after engagement with the music, rather than a collaborative process between composer and choreographer.

Company Wang Ramirez’s interpretation reflects the genre-bending nature of the music, taking inspiration from breaking to ballet and combining these with complex and clever aerial work. As performers, Honji Wang and Sébastien Ramirez have distinctly personal modes of expression which are, on their own, engaging to watch. The most exciting moments, however, come from the unique blend of their styles in duets between the pair, particularly during the track ‘Dark Day’ accompanied by the haunting vocals of Eva Stone.

Stone’s presence on stage is mesmerising; on more than one occasion did I find myself watching her sing in relative darkness, as opposed to the better lit and more active dancers. That is not to say that Stone’s only role on stage is to sing. Quite the opposite. She joins Wang and Ramirez in a playful pas de trois, is hung and swung around the stage and finally stood on top of, all whilst elevating the soundtrack with her darkly soulful voice. It’s truly impressive how flawless she sounds throughout.

Shizuka Hariu’s modernist set design is integral to the performance. Spread between two tiers connected by a curved ramp, it was able to cast its own shapes and shadows onto the stage, by virtue of Natasha Chivers’ lighting design. Yet it also provided a surface on which to project and enhance the interactive visual effects developed by Yeast Culture, lead by Nick Hillel.

This is not your average show. It’s a hybrid piece of dance-musical theatre with as much emphasis on the tech as the physical performers and music. The aerial operators, visuals, set, lighting and costumes by Hussein Chalayan all come together to create a whole much greater than just the sum of its parts.

Reviewed by Amber Woodward

Photography by  Johan Persson

 


Dystopian Dream

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Medusa | ★★★½ | October 2018
The Emperor and the Concubine | ★★★★ | October 2018
Layla and Majnun | ★★★½ | November 2018

 

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

 

Yerma – 2 Stars

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Yerma

Yerma

Cervantes Theatre

Reviewed – 8th November 2018

★★

“if I was being kind I would say that it was the intimacy of the studio space that made the climactic scene so uncomfortable”

 

This is the story of a marriage lived in rural Spain from the perspective of the titular Yerma, whose name translates as ‘barren’, a woman who desperately wants a son. Written by Federico Lorca in 1934, Cervantes Theatre have stuck somewhat to the original text whereas a recent, much praised Young Vic production was a modernised imagining. Whilst I didn’t manage to see either of the two London runs, it wasn’t for lack of trying. It was therefore with high expectations I went into this performance.

The actors can hardly be faulted. Leila Damilola as Yerma clearly puts her all into the role, so much so that during the bows she had to be supported to stand due to the severity of her sobbing from the final scene. Tom Whitelock as Juan strikes the balance between being both the subject and object of suffering whilst Coco Mbassi brings much needed light humour to this otherwise intensely unhappy tale. The whole cast is good, even if some of the characters appear somewhat superfluous.

Unfortunately, the text has not aged well, with the abundance of watery, fertility metaphors and various descriptions of breasts as mountains or as sand, sounding jarring to a modern ear.

Jorge de Juan’s direction felt clumsy and heavy-handed. The passage of time could have been made easier to follow, with no signal other than the explicit mention of the length of Yerma’s marriage. There were other choices as well which felt odd and made the story confusing. I lost patience entirely though in the final act when Yerma visits a local mystic to bring her a child, and the village women become possessed. It was too loud. Too manic. Too long. There is a limit to how much I can cope with convulsing and chanting before I itch to leave. If I was being kind I would say that it was the intimacy of the studio space that made the climactic scene so uncomfortable. Perhaps if I had been further away from the noise and the action I wouldn’t have found it so painful.

The goal of Cervantes Theatre, to perform great Spanish Theatre in the heart of London, is admirable. I am a strong proponent for performing work written in other languages  on the London stage. We should indulge in foreign cultures more than ever, especially given the current climate of impending withdrawal from the EU. I just wish that this had been a better executed example.

 

Reviewed by Amber Woodward

Photography by Elena Molina

 

Cervantes Theatre

Yerma

Cervantes Theatre until 1st December

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
The Little Pony | ★★★★ | June 2018
Ay, Carmela! | ★★★ | September 2018

 

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