Summerhall,
Edinburgh
Five
stars
A strip
of vertical mirrors lines the back of the stage throughout Kathryn Joseph’s
theatrical rendering of her remarkable second album, From When I Wake The Want
Is, presented on this five date tour as a low-key spectacle by the
Glasgow-based Cryptic company. More mirrors are attached to Joseph’s piano, so
it looks like some junk-yard steam-punk contraption about to be powered into
the skies.
It is
to designer James Johnston’s cut-glass slivers hanging all-angles in a row
behind her that Joseph sings to first, squaring up to her own image in a set of
invocations that are possibly the ultimate in self-reflective soul-baring. When
Joseph finally turns to the audience mid-way through the album’s title track, it
is with a fearlessness that defines the raw candour of her songs as she pounds
at the piano keys with a driven insistence.
As
directed by Josh Armstrong, and with little pause between songs, the album is
revealed as a suite that evolves into a hypnotic whirlwind of warring emotions, where love
and anger tug against each other over hymnal, school assembly piano married to
arcane electronic beats.
As wind
sounds roar, Joseph stands and sips on a glass of red wine, showing off the
full splendour of body
architect Marketa Kratochvilova’s bespoke jewellery she is adorned in. Bathed
in Nich Smith’s lighting, she looks like a warrior queen enjoying her down-time
before being embraced by the erotic spirit of Molly Bloom.
At one
point Joseph flips the mirrors over, so scarlet and purple lights flicker and bounce
off their plain white bases like flames while giant shadows are cast onto the
ceiling. With the audience huddled adoringly close to the performance, the stage
maybe could have done with being a few inches higher, but no matter, Joseph
soars anyway in a perfect evocation of her rare and precious art.
The Herald, September 17th 2018
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