Walkie Talkie
Jem Treays
In Walkie Talkie Jem Treays totally blurs the distinctions between dance, physical theatre and clowning. His character exemplifies the sad clown, desperate to please, who fools around (indeed, clowns around) to attract the approbation of others. With a lavalier radio microphone taped to the palm of one hand, he even creates his own sound track, most effectively when it picks up the sound of his chalking on the floor.. As the piece progresses he becomes increasingly desperate and his appeals to the audience become more and more despairing as his movements get more and more frantic.
It's a well-judged piece, stopping short of going over the top in its clowning and of decending too far into pathos.
Blue
Janice Claxton
There is a theatricality about Blue, as Claxton explores possibilities and potentialities, moving from one exploration to another, accompanied by a wide variety of music. I have to say that I found it the most difficult of the six pieces in the two All Sorts programmes I have seen so far. There is a geeat deal to admire in the performance but I found the piece rather opaque, although I suspect the fault is in me rather than in Blue itself!
To Have and To Hold (Vier Starke Frauen)
Norman Douglas and Company
Here theatre (including text), dance and cabaret combine, with even a touch of burlesque. The four strong women of the subtitle reveal to us their dreams of the ideal man and then proceed to search for him, using all the means in their power - and fail, being reduced at the end to pulling men out of the audience to dance with them, finally drooping in despair as the extent of their failure bedomes obvious to them (and to us).
Another well-balanced programme, covering a range of dance styles and an interesting combination of other genres to expand on the dance.