I originally expected the piece to be a musical with singing dancing and dialogue. But nope I couldn't be more wrong. The piece was all dance.
Although I'm not a fan of dance and neither is my boyfriend. The performance was surprisingly moving and the emotions conveyed through the dancers overly emphasised facial expressions, which to those sitting in the circle would've been lost. The emotions were expressed with every tap of the foot and all of the dancers being.
The performance began with an old woman looking at a screen with narration projected on it. Three short scenes showed the story of Edwards creation. His fathers grief, loosing a son and ambition to unnaturally create another.
To sum up the performance in one sentence I'd have to say: it's a capitalised suburban Frankenstein. From the first proper scene the sewing together of limbs reminded me completely of Mary Shelley's novel (which I've been studying this week). The fear of the 'monster' due to his otherness. He took the perspective of a marginalised other in the beginning and end of the performance. Like Frankenstein's monster he learns how to be human through the cottagers, in this case, the suburban families. However, unlike the monster being openly rejected. Edward is given a chance to learn human nature as he is lovingly embraced by the family. Then only to be out cast at the end due to one mistake. In which he lurks and disappears into the shadows much like the monster in Frankenstein does.
There was a dance sequence in which the trees Edward famously carves begin to dance. This took playing the stereotypical part of a tree to a whole new level. Puns aside this part was my favorite section. The costumes were fantastic the dancers covered in leaves barely resembled real people. The special effects over all were fantastic. Use of projection and lighting was amazing.
There were definite links to be made as a Marxist analysis the theme of time and importance of every day menial tasks and repetitive monotony of suburban life was evident. The ticking of a clock and dance where families used body as props to become cars. Unveiled the different stages of the domestic sphere and familial relationships in a comedic manner. The sides of life often hidden by our famous four walls.
Having said this the piece seemed very similar to Franz Kafka's metamorphosis. The tick tock of the clock, and references to repetitive capitalist unfulfilled life, highlighted by an outsider. Edward therefore, takes on the role of Gregor as the beetle. Loved and made a spectacle of due to his otherness and then outcast when he has surpassed his use.
Overall the piece was highly successful utilising all elements of production with fantastic costume and special effects. To create an emotive piece that tugged at the heart strings and made me appreciate dance much more.
4/5.
Thanks for reading,
Bekka.
No comments:
Post a Comment