Deanne Cherie
The new black box of Te Auaha theatre provides a generous space for the performance of The Composer, a dance circus show of the Wellington Fringe Festival. The stage, dimly lit by a soft purple light, hosts an old brown piano, draped in a silky white sheet of fabric, suggesting it has been neglected for some time. The prospect of live piano playing excites me, but is quickly followed by a loud fearful voice in my head “please dear lord don’t let this be a mime show”. I attempt to relax into the somber mood of the space and reassuringly lower my expectations.
A slender man enters in black pants and a white shirt, coffee cup in hand rubbing his eyes, implying lack of sleep. Walking unenthusiastically across the stage, he uncovers the piano, revealing a wooden piano stool, on which he takes a seat. As the man opens the piano lid, we discover his overflowing collection of crinkled paper, which covers the keys. Irked by his own mess, a frantic search for the right sheet of music results in paper littering the floor around his feet, symbolising a confused and chaotic relationship with music. When the correct piece of paper is found, he smooths it out on the stand, takes a long deep breath, and allows his hands to fall gracefully on the keys. I breathe a sigh of relief, thank god, live music!
It is here that rules of reality are broken as we are transported from world in which this man physically exists, as a composer, to a world within his music. When the melody begins to flow, a petite female dancer emerges from behind the piano. Dressed in a white glittery leotard, she shadows the composers body then gracefully climbs atop the piano, turning the instrument into a stage. A soundtrack rises overtop of the man’s playing and the enhancement of music matches the rising of my blood pressure as I am compelled by a nerve racking balancing beam routine.
Within minutes I interpret the dancer as a form of personification of the composers music. When another female dancer enters, dressed in the same costume, I begin to contour a storyline where one dancer represents the melody and the other the harmony. The composer becomes frustrated with his artistic block, changing tunes and manically tossing sheets of paper around the stage and I find humour in performers reflection of this, as they too explore all of the possibilities in an artistic acrobatic display around the space.
The next half an hour of the show passes in a blur of fascinating beauty. The first dancer performs her own fragment of the show, suspended from the theatre ceiling in an aerial ring. Her gravity defying number captivated me as she flipped and folded herself in and around the ring, was this the turmoil in the composers gut? Or maybe an expression of the perplexity of his mind lost in the clouds of creative thought, inaccessible to us down here on earth?
The second dancer performed her solo piece with a large metal car wheel, gracefully hiding the intense amount of strength, balance and rhythm required to work this large metal ring in the space. I realise it is a true illustration of what it feels like to be going around in circles, unable to escape the same repetitive rhythms of life and feeling like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.
When the composer re-entered the space, I felt a shift in his role, and even more certain of the narrative I had derived. Two pieces of white slinky fabric were tied to a rope and pulled to the top of the ceiling becoming aerial silk. Here we saw the grand conclusion to the composer's journey. A manifestation of his struggle to navigate through a maze of tangled emotion, searching for artistic clarity. The fabric which swept around the stage floor pulled sheets of music with it, creating a beautiful image of the disarray. With one final dramatic drop, I realised I’d been holding my breath, hoping for a solution and an end to his turmoil. As I slowly picked my jaw up off the floor, I felt a sense of resolution, a true fulfilment and very sincere speechlessness.
This show was utterly breathtaking. An insight to an intense, beautiful fantasy world within a creative mind. The performers display an elegant, heartfelt, raw piece of theatre which would speak to lovers of piano, dance, music, gymnastics, and circus. I picking my jaw up off the floor and left with a sense of fulfilment.
NB: Our reviewer could not see nor find any programmes at the venue; as such, performer, director, and crew names are uncredited. If you were involved with The Composer and can provide this information, please contact the administrator at artmurmurswgtn@gmail.com.
NBB: An internal oversight prevented the timely posting of this review. We've since contacted and apologised to the show owner to rectify this problem.
It is here that rules of reality are broken as we are transported from world in which this man physically exists, as a composer, to a world within his music. When the melody begins to flow, a petite female dancer emerges from behind the piano. Dressed in a white glittery leotard, she shadows the composers body then gracefully climbs atop the piano, turning the instrument into a stage. A soundtrack rises overtop of the man’s playing and the enhancement of music matches the rising of my blood pressure as I am compelled by a nerve racking balancing beam routine.
Within minutes I interpret the dancer as a form of personification of the composers music. When another female dancer enters, dressed in the same costume, I begin to contour a storyline where one dancer represents the melody and the other the harmony. The composer becomes frustrated with his artistic block, changing tunes and manically tossing sheets of paper around the stage and I find humour in performers reflection of this, as they too explore all of the possibilities in an artistic acrobatic display around the space.
The next half an hour of the show passes in a blur of fascinating beauty. The first dancer performs her own fragment of the show, suspended from the theatre ceiling in an aerial ring. Her gravity defying number captivated me as she flipped and folded herself in and around the ring, was this the turmoil in the composers gut? Or maybe an expression of the perplexity of his mind lost in the clouds of creative thought, inaccessible to us down here on earth?
The second dancer performed her solo piece with a large metal car wheel, gracefully hiding the intense amount of strength, balance and rhythm required to work this large metal ring in the space. I realise it is a true illustration of what it feels like to be going around in circles, unable to escape the same repetitive rhythms of life and feeling like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.
When the composer re-entered the space, I felt a shift in his role, and even more certain of the narrative I had derived. Two pieces of white slinky fabric were tied to a rope and pulled to the top of the ceiling becoming aerial silk. Here we saw the grand conclusion to the composer's journey. A manifestation of his struggle to navigate through a maze of tangled emotion, searching for artistic clarity. The fabric which swept around the stage floor pulled sheets of music with it, creating a beautiful image of the disarray. With one final dramatic drop, I realised I’d been holding my breath, hoping for a solution and an end to his turmoil. As I slowly picked my jaw up off the floor, I felt a sense of resolution, a true fulfilment and very sincere speechlessness.
This show was utterly breathtaking. An insight to an intense, beautiful fantasy world within a creative mind. The performers display an elegant, heartfelt, raw piece of theatre which would speak to lovers of piano, dance, music, gymnastics, and circus. I picking my jaw up off the floor and left with a sense of fulfilment.
NB: Our reviewer could not see nor find any programmes at the venue; as such, performer, director, and crew names are uncredited. If you were involved with The Composer and can provide this information, please contact the administrator at artmurmurswgtn@gmail.com.
NBB: An internal oversight prevented the timely posting of this review. We've since contacted and apologised to the show owner to rectify this problem.