More or Less Concrete
Arts House
– North Melbourne Town Hall
Choreographer/Director Tim Darbyshire, Performers Sophia Cowen, Tim Drabyshire, Matthew Day, Sound
Designer Jem Savage, Original
Sound Concept Myles Mumford, Lighting
and Set Designer Ben (Bosco) Shaw for
Bluebottle 2, Dramaturge/Sound
Theorist Thembi Soddell
April 18–22
Innovative,
collaborative, inspiring, visceral and hypnotic More or Less Concrete could be interpreted as a work about the
nature of different and changing forms of concrete – however it is much more
than that.
The piece
opens with a mysteriously-lit (Ben Shaw) enigmatic and exotic intertwined
tableau of dancers Sophia Cowen, Tim Darbyshire and Matthew Day. The three are almost
completely clad in synthetic, hooded, protective overalls as designed by
Rebecca Agnew. Moving initially slowly and intensely then often
vigorously and repetitively they create many suggestive, perplexing, ambiguous
yet strangely satisfying images. Their bodies are contorted and connected or separate,
often in close relationship to the floor, in a combination of ways that suggest
marine life, animals, insects and any number of images and realities depending
on imaginative speculation and interpretation.
As
spectator wearing earphones there is a sense of big hermetically sealed in the
hazy blue half-light as a kind of voyeur of discomforting anomalies. It is
particularly fascinating to watch the human flesh of hands as the only exposed
body parts. Generally, I think it is true to say, movement in this work is not
dependent on sound but rather sound is generated and extended from movement and
impressions by sound designer Jem Savage.
More or Less Concrete is a highly refined, challenging
and at times discomforting asymmetrical work of art. Like an abstract painting it requires
individual effort from each audience member to engage, interpret and endow with
meaning to be experienced as a satisfying whole. It is a unique experience and well worth the
effort.
(For Stage Whispers)
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