The Bongo Club,
Edinburgh
4 stars
Do you remember the
first time? The first time you played mass games of statues, perhaps,
a first kiss, or the growing pains of impending adulthood that will
leave all that innocent stuff behind for more serious life and death
affairs? Young experimental theatre company Creative Electric do, and
even though the three performers onstage in this devised interactive
miniature look barely out of therir teens, their wisdom goes before
them in spades.
After being given
headphones at the door, an audience of fifteen is ushered into one of
the Bongo's dark club spaces as a sonic collage of babbling voices
invades our ears and minds. As they guide us round the space,
performers Michael Collins, Laura Fisher and Robbie Gordon share a
series of personal epiphanies inbetween explaining how the brain
deals with memories. Sometimes these are accompanied by little dance
moves. Other moments are soundtracked by melancholy electronic
melodies as unknown voices share their own experiences through the
headphones. There are moments too, when they remove your headphones,
look you in the eye and tell you what it was like to see an ailing
relative for the final time or how they prepared to leave home.
As each memory prompts
you to reflect on your own experiences, all of this becomes a deeply
affecting experience. The fact that Heather Marshall's intimate
production lasts just thirty-five minutes makes it even more so. All
three performers serve up an impressive mix of real life honesty and
charm in a piece which could clearly be developed into something
bigger, but which, right now, remains an emotionally stirring
meditation that's not easy to forget.
The Herald, May 2nd 2013
ends
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