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Set following an unspecified catastrophic event, this highly aesthetic abstract performance without words utilises some clever object manipulation and evocative soundscapes to create a disturbing and confusing world. Attention to detail is absolute; every movement that the two performers make is painstakingly delivered and totally committed. Possibly more like a performance installation than a theatrical work, the piece raises science fiction themes of war and its aftermath through a series of symbolic moving images.
Both the narrative and its throughline are hugely open to interpretation, and thus the level of focus that the piece demands of its audience is on a par with that demonstrated by the skilled performers. In some respects, herein lies the problem. With painstaking movements and dogged pace, the piece at times feels difficult to engage with or to find enough to fully sustain one’s attention. The skill and imagination in the piece cannot be denied, and is of credit to the performers, but the question paramount in my mind is this: who is this performance constructed for? Communication to the audience was patchy at times, with some of the props being too small for us to really see and the performers so very much in their own, all-encompassing world that they didn’t always reach me.
