REVIEW THEATRE
narrat— Women Beware Wome
Domino death in Philip Prowse‘s treatment of Middleton
Neil (‘oopcr sees incest. sin and seduction at the (‘it'/..
When the aristocracy messes up. it does it in style. Thomas .‘Jitltllcton's lllsl_\’ saga of adultery. incest. and bittersweet revenge is therefore disturbingl} conicmporal'}; as current e\poscs ol~ 'I‘or} slca/c and Royal misdcmcanonr lL'sllllV.
SCOTTISH DANCE DOUBLE BILL
In Middleton's world. a potential love affair is both a commodity and an obsession. such is the tediutn and lrtrslration of having it all. Livia. the bored. driven widow. wheedles and slca/cs her way throughout. setting in motion a catalogue ol‘corruption that leads to the sullying ot‘doting newly- wed Bianca. whose brutal seduction by the Duke lays bare her naked ambition and dissatislaction with her lot. Likewise. l.eantio. Bianca's sptrrned husband on the make is lured into |.rv ia’s snare with vulgar promises of bodin and material comforts.
l’hilip l’rowse's production is strewn with t_\pical ('itizens' opulence. with row on row ol~ dead souls hanging above the action seemingly as some kind ol‘ warning to those below, while .»\nne l.ambton's Livia slinks her way through a slolhl‘ul banquet scene akin to‘ a ( 'hekhovian [Mal ('lttvs oblivious to n. (“munding wimp“, Seen at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh,
What makes this production stand out . ""1 ended~ though is a remarkable reworking ol‘ It can be ham sometimes '0' scoms" the Ward. in the text a balloon and a dance to make its "nice head above bore who bounces bad gags till his man "'9 Ianmatazz OI "Siting companiesr ~\‘ordrdo. Here he is a u. ordlcss‘. hm a law WEEKS baek the “averse w hcclchair-bound grotesque looked was handing two local pedomers the alter by turns. and prone to mild megaphone mm a Show pmudly molestation \\ hen excited. Though this 5 advertised as a scomsn Dance Double economy saves the play from becoming i Bi"- l‘lahby. accelerating the action to its “'5‘ under "'9 spomght was x blood} conclusion. it also relegates the Faetor With one n" we lads' “St incest between Isabella and Ilippolito When You mought there “9'9"” many to mere subplot. The final scenes too bl°kes dancmg in scouandr local arc condensed. giving more logical Choreographer Ala" Graig is bad in sense to the domino ellch of death. Low"! wm‘ some 0' the home“ male \\ in. h is s‘\\ iltly ltrllowcrl by tin-mt» talent on the scene in tow. Bed. 8
channel-hopping choreography that ; skips between four highly charged sections of dance, is a collaboration between the five men, with Greig as director. It’s a method that can be a
KENNY era/us
retribution as assorted sinners step
w illingl} down to the pyre ol‘their own making. (Neil (‘ooper)
ll'mnt'n lfr'rrttrt' Ililllu’ll, (Wire/ts" l'ltt‘ttlrt'. (i/tts‘emr: tutti! 25 l’t’l).
RICHARD ALSTDN DANCE COMPANY
Seen at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on tour throughout Scotland.
When the dance world was getting its flags out to welcome back the new look Ratnbert last September, the company’s ousted artistic director, Richard Alston was not one of those out lining the route. Not that there was any hint of sour grapes. Alston was just too busy staging his own comeback to feel miffed by the neon lights flashing round the Rambert relaunch.
Parting with Rambert was painful says Alston, but redundancy has been short lived and he’s now heading up a bright new company formed from the bare bones of Rambert’s old rivals, London Contemporary Dance Theatre. The first fruits of this labour went on display at the Traverse Theatre earlier this month in a programme of four dances that indicate Alston’s career as a choreographer is far from over.
lachrymae, bathed in pools of mellow autumn light, is sparse and remote with distant partnerings that scatter across the stage like so many autumn leaves. It’s pure Alston — Britten’s melancholy score getting only abstract treatment, dancers in traditional modern dance couplings and every limb in the house stretched to the full.
Movements from Petrushka is a
pitch. The air seems hot and heavy, ' and out of it emerge two dancers,
sweaty and intense as young lovers shacked up in a tiny space.
company giving their virtuoso all to
' Zestful exuberance is the overall
V Brothers. And the lycra dungarees
case of too many choreographers
spoiling the dance piece, but this was ' quite the opposite. Red has total . focus. Mick Lindo, Malcolm Shields, ; Michael Tees and Errol White are very different dancers, but under Greig’s ; direction they move as one - fusing f razor sharp reflexes and polished i technique with a casual street ease. f They race from scene to scene Q propelled by sheer dynamism and a ' series of ever changing moods: through steely blue city-paranoia to cool blue new-man caring, with all the raw energy and power of male dance, ~ and none of the macho posturings.
Boundary from Group N was
something altogether different. Director Vanessa Smith likes a bit of a concept to her dance and the theme of g the day here was to strip dance of its ; highlights (like the dancing) and i create a watchable piece trom the transitional, sometimes awkward bits in-between. Dressed in tiny girl- sprinter shorts and vests the two women achieve a remarkable fluency using odd ends of movement from the choreographer’s bin, and with the broken whistling patterns of the soundtrack the piece has a gawky adolescent sense of struggling to come of age about it.
Since last year’s Paisley Dance Break I though, Boundary has lost some of the l movement that made its jarring effect, but even the best laid attempts qualities easier on the senses, and for to be hip and happening can end up ( all but the dedicated dance buff may looking a bit Seven Brides for Seven ; look like it’s a little heavy on the I concept and light on the action. (Ellie Carr)
complete change of tack. Darshan Singh Buller, dressed in black, is stunning as the tormented man-puppet . plagued by invisible demons and taunted by ultra-bright visions of cavalcade puppets. Inspired by the tragic life of Niiinsky and his original Petrushka (and some say reflecting Alston’s own experience) Buller’s tortured puppet is an earthy, stirring portrait of a man on the edge.
The second half opens with Shadow Realm, and it seems like Alston’s on a roll. Simon Holt’s music is deep and resonant, at times climbing to fever
And so to an uptempo finale, Something in the City, the whole
the jazzy strains of Man Jumping.
don’t much help. (Ellie Carr)
TRAVERSE by Graeae
Macbeth-meets-Reservoir Dogs blend of violence, anarchy and intrigue. Pa
Ubu kills the King and
institutes a reign of terror. 8 - 12 FEBRUARY 8PM
AND
BENCHTOURS
HAROUN AND THE SEA OFSTORIES
Salman Rushdies' fantasy tale of the Shah of Blah, the fabled story-teller .... ..and of the evil that steals the
tales from his very mouth. 15 - 19 FEBRUARY 8PM
A SEASON OF EXHIBITIONS, PERFORMANCE, WRITERS’ EVENTS, MUSIC, FILM, VIDEO AND TALKS
2T JANUARY—7 RCH T 995
DESPAIR
Performance Programme
10 8: II FEBRUARY 7.30PM SIS/£2
DAVID IZOD THE TERATOMA SHOW ’80 lOl I've lost my mother, my lerlility and my right oollock to cancer.
‘6, T7 8: T8 FEBRUARY 7.30PM £5/£2
FORCED
ENTERTAINMENT HIDDEN J Passion and block hum0ur, angry phone calls, made up moder.n soénts rand o gobby solesmcm what more c0uld anyofle ask (or?
,‘s‘tNG SOON. Michael Laub, Ran Athey
Brochure wnh lull details
350 SAUCMHALL STREET C CW 02 3J0 TEL: 0141-332 7521
The List 10-23 Feb 1995 57