Skip to main content

Review of Light by Theatre Ad Infinitum at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Light is a tricky production to describe to someone, and before seeing it I had little knowledge of what it was about or how it was to be performed. The first part of description I would offer though is that it really is rather superb.

Part light show, part silent movie (story progression is projected on a screen), and as I saw written somewhere, part mime. Now mime is undoubtedly a first for me at the theatre, and I think generally my little memory of it consists of Kenny Everett walking up invisible stairs or walking into non-existent walls. However from my experience of Light, I would like to see more of it.

Light is at its core incredible physical theatre. The five (yes only five, I was surprised as well) performers; three men and two ladies; have not only incredible fitness moving with ease across the stage, but also incredible spatial awareness as virtually all movement is performed in near total darkness. I first saw some of this type of blind movement in Headlong's 1984 (review here) last year and was overwhelmed by the speed of it then. Those scenes was occasional in that however and here the audience were treated with seventy minutes of it. That was not the only link with 1984 however, as not only was this performed as a single piece with no interval (a good decision to prevent tension breakup), but also by subject matter.

Set in the late twenty first century, it tells the story of the development of a system of sending thought by air (superbly depicted by light globules from head to finger to air) and it becoming used for bad (red) instead of good (green) as originally intended by its creator (Deborah Pugh). The head of the company using it for evil, essentially a dictator is Matthew Gurney, who together with Pugh combine to tell perhaps the key storytelling aspect of the whole performance. Without giving anything away these are the key characters of the story and share some of not only the most powerful scenes, but more importantly the humourous scenes. Comic moments are limited in the production, mostly from just simple looks to audience, but because of the sheer power of most of the story, they come as a tremendous relief.

The other reoccurring character is played by Michael Sharman, shaven headed and tremendously sinister in his pursuit of his preys, hiding seemingly just behind the pursued. He is also importantly for the story. the son of dictator Gurney. Supporting the three key characters are Charlotte Dubery and Robin Guiver as a collection of characters from rebel doctors to assistants.

Combined these five actors create a world of movement and drama from the simple use of lighting, including a proper usage of a selfie stick instead of taking a picture of a gurning face. Flickering lights portray everything from running, lifts ascending, motorbikes pursuing, underground systems and swimming in a pitch perfectly timed way. A repeating idea of the actors running straight towards the audience and seemingly off the edge is superb. Also remarkably clever was the switching of a drinks table to vertical, both innovative and highly effective.

Without any doubt this is a dazzling, inventive seventy minutes telling perhaps a very real feeling story of future technology and its use. In a time when the so-called "snoopers charter" is back in the news, there is no greater a time for this play to be seen and to have a real stirring in the minds of those that see it.

«««««

Performance reviewed: Monday 2nd February, 2015 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.

Light was performed at the Royal & Derngate (Royal) on Monday 2nd February, 2015 from performers Theatre Ad Infinitum. Light is currently on tour and details can be found on their website at http://www.theatreadinfinitum.co.uk/

For further details about the Royal & Derngate visit their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/



Popular posts from this blog

Northampton Theatre Preview - September 2016

With the Summer downtime coming to an end for the theatres of Northampton, the curtain is ready to rise again on a new season of shows in the town. Top pick at Royal & Derngate has to be the return of the hit adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Tale Of Two Cities. Adapted by Mike Poulton and directed by the R&D artistic directer James Dacre, this version first seen in 2014 plays for seven nights in the Royal before setting off on a national tour. Dates in Northampton are Saturday 10th to Saturday 17th with matinees on Wednesday, Thursday and the second Saturday. For those wanting to revisit the turbulant times of the 1989 political world, there is a chance to see Jonathan Maitland's touring Dead Sheep. Telling the story of the ramifications of Geoffrey Howe's sacking at the hands of PM Margaret Thatcher and her eventual downfall at the hands of this "dead sheep". It stars Steve Nallon, Paul Bradley and Graham Seed and runs at the Royal & Derngate be...

Review of Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The Rambert Dance Company is the oldest such company in Britain having first performed in 1926. However, despite this, this was my first encounter with the group in my ten years of theatre-going. Coupled with this, it was also my first encounter with Peaky Blinders , having never seen the show, and only knowing a few vague things about it. My companion for the evening however was very familiar with the show, allowing some background behind the show. It turns out though,  Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby needs a little more than a good bit of knowledge of the show, as despite this production having incredible style, there struggles to be a cohesive structure to the show and the storytelling. Much more than other dance shows as well. The first act does a whistle-stop tour of the first five seasons and while it is a feast on the eye, and on the ear, it gets extremely confusing at times. The second act is freestyle and drifts away from the stories tol...

Camden Fringe Review: FEET by Emma And Lawrence Wrote A Play at Etcetera Theatre, London

While some issue plays tend to miss the point of providing fun and entertainment as well as making their point on a relevant issue, FEET is certainly not one of them. Written, produced, directed and performed by the two-person team of Emma And Lawrence Wrote A Play, this is clearly a labour of love of the two, full names Emma Brown and Lawrence Smith, it is fun and engaging throughout. It's "issue" is loosely about selling your body for money or art and how far you might be willing to push it. Lucy Winwood (Emma Brown) is your typical young actress, struggling hard to get those money making roles, or roles in general, and in need of money she stumbles upon the world of feet fetishism (as you, of course, would) and slowly from just images of her feet sold online, it becomes feet in jelly and then finally personal meetings with clients for full on feet interaction. The path that FEET takes is that is this denigration of your body in selling your feet actually worse than...