|
Fringe 2007 Reviews (57)
Lion Spirit
Maidaiko Aska Gumi Japanese Drum Troupe
Assembly @ St. George's West
*****
Lion Spirit is "a combination of Taiko drum with Japanese
dance". Having seen several Taiko drum performances over the years,
I can tell you these two do not live separately from each other. Taiko
drum performances are precisely choreographed and the performers are
always in sync. That is a part of the reason that this genre is so intriguing.
Thought to be used over a thousand years ago, the drum was used on
the battle field to signal troops over a large battlefield. They must
also have proved terrifying to the opposing armies. They are part of
ceremonies and rites as well as entertainment. Each size drum and playing
style has its own name. Made of hollowed tree trunks, their size seems
only to be dictated by the resources.
ASKA is a company of dedicated musicians who show a reverence for their
art and a respect for their audience. It is well worth seeing how precisely
perfect these musicians can become. (I've been told that they film every
performance and review for improvement.) It is no wonder that they were
chosen to perform in the opening of the Seoul Olympics.
The performers are dressed in costumes of red, black and white geometric
design which look very modern and yet traditional at the same time.
The first thing you notice before wood ever hits skin is how beautiful
these bodies are and how elegantly they move. The drums and drummers
are impressively precise. You can feel the rhythm in the seat and the
floor. At one point three drummers sit lashed to drums on the floor
when two drummer climb up and sit on top of large drums upstage, striking
the drums below them.
The commitment to this art form seems to be less egocentric than any
in the western world; the sum is greater than the parts. Even the shadow
figures dressed in black who help move the instruments are part of the
troupe.
Although it is the drums that are featured there are pipes and flutes,
cymbals and gongs. And there is a lion, fierce and beautiful; founder
Daigoro Askka.
The performers all seem to enjoy themselves and pleasing the audience.
Here is the universal language of music and dance suitable for audiences
of all ages (except the very young).
Catherine Lamm
Odyssey
Livewire Theatre Company
Venue 45
****
Following on from their masterful adaptation and reworking of Homer's
Iliad, Livewire Theatre have returned this year with their particular
version of the The Odyssey, following the 20 year long voyage
of Odysseus back from the city of Troy to his long suffering wife Penelope
and his Son Telemachus.
Much as with Iliad: Fall of Troy, the subject has been refocussed
with a new slant on the material. But whereas The Iliad was an
exercise in the futility of war and a clever critique on the nature
of lusts and beauty, The Odyssey neatly inverts those ideals,
turning instead to look at a more quiet and sombre reflection on longing
what is ultimately a more hopeful tale.
The cast are, as ever with this company, flawless in their performance,
and as such they excel in both the measured moments of grief and sadness
and with the raw anger and passion shown in the final confrontation
between Odysseus and the suitors of Penelope.
It's also an interesting change from the raw frenetic action of the
company's previous work, to see them perform a piece which is less charged
with brutal violence, but it also follows to their inversion of the
Iliad's pacing, as the climax of the piece is a return to the
swordplay which, using full length metal swords, has a ferocity and
skill in the choreography that puts Chanbara to shame.
If there is a flaw in the production it is that the pacing of the poem
itself does not lend itself quite so well to theatre as The Iliad.
Odysseus' ten -year stint on Calypso's island seems oddly out of place
considering the haste to which he had previously applied himself. Other
than this, it simply is another epic production from a highly professional
company I always look forwards to seeing.
Graeme Strachan
The Redemption of Christopher
Cant
Bear
Clubwest @ Three Sisters
***
Christopher Cant is a story teller and musician. This quite large man
carries the name of Shining Bear. All in white, in this low room and
on this small stage he is quite an overwhelming presence.
Mr. Cant has mastered the didgeridoo, a double-barreled pipe which
makes magical music.
The didgeridoo is a very large pipe made from the hollowed out tree
trunks of hardwood like the eucalyptus. It is a ceremonial instrument
that has been traced back through cave paintings thought to be over
1500 years. It is played by vibrating the lips and blowing air using
a technique of circular breathing.
The pipe he has had made to look like a double barreled gun and demonstrates
the transformation.
Mr. Cant tells a poignant story of searching for his biological father,
spending one wonderful afternoon with him only to return two years later
to attend the funeral. He sings beautifully the farewell song that was
his gift to his father. Rolf Harris joins him for a bit of song and
didge.
This has the makings of a wonderful evening.
The problem is the shows lack of cohesion. Mr. Cant begins his show
offstage announcing himself and then milks the small audience for responses
of applause and laughter. He seems very uncomfortable relaying his plight
of trying to sell his show ("leafletting and flyering") and
childhood stories of being teased because of his name. He then showers
his audience with incense of white sage to purify the spirits. These
two elements do not merge well and the first makes the second seem very
disingenuous. In a show that should be very intimate and engaging, the
microphone only distances him further. He masters the story teller and
musician but not the comedian.
Catherine Lamm
Next
page - - - Index
|
