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THE BOWIE SHOW

★★★★

UK Tour

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THE BOWIE SHOW

Golder’s Green Hippodrome

★★★★

“Innovative, brave, inventive, theatrical, yet authentic”

When Brett Morgen’s documentary film, “Moonage Daydream”, burst onto the silver screen back in 2022, it was heralded as being ‘groundbreaking’, and a ‘glorious celebratory montage’. A ‘sensory voyage’. During the opening moments of Simon Gwilliam’s “The Bowie Show” we feel we could have wandered into the live, stage version of the film. Immediately our senses our flooded. The cinematic drama unfolds, alien and shapeshifting yet instantly recognisable and emotionally charged. Countdown has commenced, and from the moment Sian Crowe’s husky vocals launch ‘Space Oddity’ into the atmosphere, we get a hint of what we are in for.

Tribute is not the same as impersonation, and Gwilliam has held onto this concept. ‘People don’t want a recital; they want a show’ as Bowie himself has said. This is ‘the freakiest show’ – authentic, imperfect, and steeped in kooky originality. Interestingly the publicity blurb repeatedly emphasises that the show is not authorised or endorsed by the Estate of David Bowie. No doubt a legal caveat. This company have stretched to breaking point the limits to what they can get away with. But pushing boundaries is what it’s all about.

With the exception of the show’s finale, the set list is pretty much rooted in the seventies and first half of the eighties; Bowie’s most prolific and influential years. The on-stage five-piece band deliver chillingly accurate versions of the music for many of the numbers, while others are wonderfully reimagined and reorchestrated. As the smooth mellotron strings fade from ‘Space Oddity’ we drift into a prog-rock, psychedelic ‘Oh, You Pretty Things’. We move swiftly into ‘Changes’, then a searing ‘Ziggy Stardust’ during which the dancers each wear era-defining costumes worthy of the V & A archives. Elsewhere, Rebecca Martin’s costume design (with Cathy Kelly and Erin Holden) emulates and exaggerates the pivotal moments of Bowie’s own sartorial journey with a playfulness and quirky inventiveness. The attention to detail, often missed if you blink, runs deep. References, some explicit and some ingeniously subtle, are also lurking at every turn in Sophie Quay’s brilliantly eclectic choreography, Billy Gwilliam’s panoramic, juddering, kaleidoscopic, cosmic, urban, brutal, swooping video design, and the overall collective styling of the show. An outstanding example is the grotesque, pirouetting doll during ‘Rebel Rebel’ accompanied by a projected backdrop of cracked mannequins joining in the chorus.

A troupe of eight dancers (including Quay) do justice to the choreography and costume. Beautifully synchronised, and each given a solo moment. ‘Jean Genie’ shows off the angular dexterity of Jordan Boury, a standout dancer whose movements are as precise as the backbeat, yet as eccentric as the experimental chord changes Bowie’s music sometimes follow. It is going to be impossible to mention every dancer, and every musical number. ‘Starman’, with its clever nod to ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ neatly segues into ‘Moonage Daydream’, during which Laura Browne’s guitar is uncannily reminiscent of the late, great Mick Ronson. ‘Life on Mars’ opens with a toy piano riff before its soaring crescendo. Each song encapsulates the moment, not by imitation but by illustration. The singers only occasionally sound like Bowie. They certainly don’t look like him. Sian Crowe, Elliot Rose and Greg Oliver are sometimes a bit lost in the mix but when they cut through, they mix their own character in with the iconic Bowie-esque timbre. Crowe passionately claims ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’ for her own.

‘The Bowie Show’ is undoubtedly a concert, which leads to a few awkward silences between the music. These are occasionally filled with voiceover, soundscape or visuals. When the spoken lyrics from ‘We Are the Dead’ bleed into ‘Ashes to Ashes’ we realise we want more of this. But once fully immersed in the music again, we forgive and forget. The hits of the eighties are rolled out, from ‘Scary Monsters’ to ‘Let’s Dance’, until we skip two or three decades.

The closing moments drift from homage to eulogy. ‘Blackstar’, Bowie’s cryptic farewell message to the world, is beautifully performed, followed by an aching and dark ‘Lazarus’. Of course, ‘Heroes’ serves as an encore (ah, wondered when that one was coming). It has been quite a journey. An impossible journey given that Bowie’s output could never be condensed into a mere two hours. But “The Bowie Show” has curated a well-balanced cross section. The integration of music and visuals is quite meticulous. The show may not have been endorsed by the Estate – but it could be. And should be. With the artistic curbs lifted this show could be boundless. But already it is a vibrant spectacle. Innovative, brave, inventive, theatrical, yet authentic. It’s the freakiest show, yes, but a triumph of ‘Sound and Vision’.

 



THE BOWIE SHOW

UK Tour

Reviewed on 14th January 2025

by Jonathan Evans

 


 

 

 

 

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THE BOWIE SHOW

THE BOWIE SHOW

THE BOWIE SHOW

 

 

FAULT LINES

★★★★

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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FAULT LINES at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

“the choreography was extraordinarily creative, sharp and inspired throughout”

Fault Lines, written by Nick Walker and performed by Lîla Dance, pulls no punches. Whilst it’s not exactly a theatre of cruelty, the immediacy of its metaphors and the emotions there within strike you from moment one. The show, very explicitly, tries at the much worked message of righteous panic around the climate; the glaring, world-altering issue which, on account of its relatively abstract, gradual danger, gets ignored the world over by short-term, hedonistic desires.

As a dance piece (dancers Joe Darby, Amy Morvell, Luke Brown, Yanki Yau, Coralie Calfond, Ivan Merino Gaspar and Madison Burgess), the categories for assessment are more limited than their theatrical counterparts, at least to a layman such as myself. First, the movement. Second, the technical aspects. And finally, the combination and collaboration of the two.

The dancing itself is extraordinary (choreographed by Abi Mortimer and Carrie Whitaker). Whilst the synchronization had moments of sloppiness, the choreography was extraordinarily creative, sharp and inspired throughout. The play moved through a multitude of anthologies; different areas and timelines, where each individual and community suffers in a variety of ways from the unstable, burning world. A personal favourite of mine is a section on coastal overpopulation. Sometimes, movement pieces often feel like they delve too strongly into the abstract that their metaphorical reflection is lost, but here; with effective, concise dialogue alongside jagged, desperate movements, both chaotic and routine, the overwhelming claustrophobia of this highly likely scenario is viscerally striking. One dancer outlines, with increasingly hollow optimism, the possible designs of their new accommodation, whilst the fundamental lack of space threatens to break down the door to his delusion. The image is powerful and unavoidable, and their profound physical skill is evident throughout.

Furthermore, their use of props, primarily long, wooden poles, elevates the potential for complex, aggressive power dynamics and movement sequences throughout. In one significantly, empathetic section, one of the characters pleads in Spanish as he’s attacked with poles by the other dancers who don’t seem to understand him. Though only one individual initially singles him out, the desperate need to other spurred on by the dire circumstances themselves spurred on by climate change suddenly designates him an outcast warranting violence and targeting. The emotion here is immediate. Though certain sections feel too aesthetically beautiful to relate to any raw feeling or experience, this sequence – it’s torture, it’s desperation, it’s humanity – triggers one’s innate compassion and sense of unfairness. Though such bullying has existed throughout human history, the potential for climate change to create circumstances which reverse social progress in a way we are already witnessing is very powerful here.

The technical aspects are, in short, perfect. The production is not afraid to make the sound loud (Dougie Evans), and it’s all the better for it, each stab and strike and beat and pulse immersing one in the intensity of the scene. The music choices are effective; not cliche, but familiar, anxious techno beats which never maintain long enough to become comforting or predictable. The use of voiceover exerts, remixed into haunting EDM hooks, about the need for space, warmth, safety and the like, add a more relatable humanity to the symbolism of the often silent dancing choreography.

The amalgamation of these two elements is largely effective. In the aforementioned overcrowding sequence, a beam of light (Natalie Rowland), which casts a cascade of jerking, shuddering shadows, gradually shrinks and shrinks until it fits each dancer, single file, with not an inch to spare. The increasingly claustrophobic choreography in this scene, clawing at the edges, running into the shrinking, shifting light, adds to the breathless, desperate effect.

Overall, Fault Lines powerfully meets and accentuates the existential danger climate change poses. Though certain sections drag or fail to clearly illustrate their meaning, the composition as a whole is shattering in its visceral presentation of a not-unlikely reality.


FAULT LINES at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Assembly @ Dance Base

Reviewed on 22nd August 2024

by Horatio Holloway

Photography by Dougie Evans

 

 


FAULT LINES

FAULT LINES

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