Casa and Magical Chairs at the Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell
By Carolin Kopplin
The miracle of magic.
Lumenis Theatre Company presents a double-bill of contemporary dance and new writing exploring themes of belongings and isolation.
Casa is a theatrical dance piece with elements of structured improvisation, a collage of still images and stylized sketches inspired from typical everyday life situations. A dancer wearing a black coat enters. He smiles at the audience and has a definite bulge in his trousers – which turns out to be green wig. He puts it on and tries to form a relationship with the audience. Suddenly somebody claps and the dancer quickly disappears.
Two men and six women in black coats are on the stage. A woman in a red coat and dress enters. She is eyed suspiciously. Only one black clad dancer is willing to approach her. They dance together, holding on to each other’s coats, using the red coat in a fake bull fight, finally sharing coats. After they swap coats the dancer now wearing the red coat seems free, moving happily to the music of a cellist. The dancer who is now wearing the black coat finds the other black clad dancers crowding in on her. In the end she will be assimilated.
This is an impressive performance by Lumenis Theatre Company. Power games, submission, togetherness and isolation are elegantly and movingly choreographed by Annarita Mazzilli.
Magical Chairs is an absurdist play by Mary Mazzilli about childhood, magic tricks and musical chairs - a game with realistic undertones and dystopic nuances.
A
living doll is chained to a chair. There are a number of
covered chairs on stage, a pair of high heeled shoes and a
wooden cabinet. A news program on the radio announces: "There
are an estimated 143 million abandoned chairs worldwide. Many
millions more are abandoned or separated from their immediate
and extended owners, living on the street, in institutions, or
supporting their siblings on their own..." A chair magician
checks on the doll and starts playing with the chairs while his
new assistant puts on the high heels and slips. The magician is
not satisfied with his new assistant - his former assistant
loved chairs and could walk in high heels. She also had long
legs. The new assistant hates chairs and is afraid of heights.
She does not have long legs. But today is different because
there will finally be another performance. Will anybody come to
see it?
The
idea of abandoned chairs becoming a welfare issue is quite
ingenious. The spats between the Chair Magician and his
unmotivated assistant are very funny at times. However, I was
especially impressed by the Living Doll who was also very much
like a child doing acrobats whilst not being watched,then being
pushed back and forth between the magician and his assistant,
looking terrified.
Both performances are definitely worth seeing.
Until 21 May 2011
Blue Elephant Theatre, 59a Bethwin Road, Camberwell, London SE5 0T
www.blueelephanttheatre.co.uk
Summit Conference by the aya theatre company
By Carolin KopplinWe both wanted men but we got institutions.
Robert David MacDonald’s play describes a fictional meeting of Eva Braun and Clara Petaccci, the mistresses of Hitler and Mussolini. During the course of the play the two women assume a range of male roles such as their dictator lovers, a fanatical Hitler Youth, and misogynists. As themselves they demonstrate how the continuance of an oppressive system is dependent upon the compliance of its victims.
The venue is an imposing eighteenth-century mansion at 32 Portland Place. Set in the diplomatic heart of central London, it provides the ideal backdrop for this surreal and disturbing production. Most of the action takes place in the living room but there are a few scenes on the stairs and in the hallway. The chorus consisting of three talented singers sees to it that every member of the audience has a good view of the actors.
When we follow the Soldier, dressed in a fascist uniform, into the living room we find Eva Braun and Clara Petacci in their underwear embracing and exchanging hot kisses. Dresses and underwear is draped over lamps and statues. They are drinking champagne and having a good time. Very soon their attention is directed towards the young man. Singing the all-time favourite Nazi hit „Die Fahne hoch“ they begin undressing the man, putting a dress on him while Braun and Petacci are now wearing trousers. The soldier has changed into the woman, the victim, while the mistresses act as chauvinist males at their worst. After assuming a variety of male roles Braun and Petacci lament their fate as mistresses of institutions. Although they have certain privileges they are never allowed to take their rightful place next to their men. Instead they are forced to live rather restricted lives. Like gangsters their dictator-lovers see women either as mothers or whores, and whores need to be kept tugged away, out of sight.
The production is an unsentimental examination of the cold eroticism of power, the oppression of the weak by their darker selves and the sordid politcs of oppression. The charismatic Laura Pradelska gives a stunning performance as Eva Braun, Elisa Terren is a captivating Clara Petacci and Martin Behrman is impressive and touching as the Soldier.
aya theatre company was formed by a collective of emerging theatre artists. Their next project is Burmese Days, adapted from George Orwell’s first novel.
Venue: 32 Portland Place W1B 1QE
Weds-Sat only, 7.30pm (Doors 6.45pm)until 4th September 2010
THIS IS A AN INVITE-ONLY FREE PERFORMANCE
Please go to the following webpage to reserve a ticket:
http://www.ayatheatre.com/iWeb/aya/SummitConference.html
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