I need to start this review by prodding the elephant out of the room. And, elephant, thy name is technology! The interaction of digital technology with human movement can achieve exceptional outcomes (I think of recent work by Tom Dale and Russell Maliphant as excellent examples) or it can become a distraction, and even a nuisance. Or it just doesn’t work, as – I regret to report – was the case at this performance.
Company Wayne McGregor performing his UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey, seemed to start well with a digital projection onto a scrim of what appeared to be a colourful close-up panorama of the inside of a galleon, turning into a reel of a curious exotic fish and then, behind the scrim, an ensemble dance. After several minutes came the ominous cue of the house lights up, more delay and a timid and inaudible announcement from an anonymous technician from behind the scrim. Take two included some explosions of digital colour that had not been evident on the first excursion, but the false start didn’t get quite so far forward. House lights up, another inaudible announcement and more delay. Finally, a half hour late, it was third time lucky, and the show got going in earnest.
Is it right for a critic to record such unfortunate events? Obviously, I think so, since the false starts and consequent delay certainly impacted on the success of the performance. The young woman seated next to me had fitted the matinee into her work schedule and expected to be back at her desk by 3:30pm, so she spent the last half-hour of the performance anxiously checking her (oh, the irony) very bright digital watch! When the dance began for the third and final time, the ensemble lacked the same energy as in their wasted earlier effort. It was as if the adrenalin had been sapped right out of them.
The dance got better although, accepting that I had perhaps now become biased, the technology always seemed overwhelming. Is it necessary to have most, if not all, the dancing sandwiched between busy projections on a scrim and a backdrop. There were burning forests turned to skeletal trees and a seabird was consumed by thick, treacly oil: undoubtedly these were important images to convey ecological disaster, but they overpowered the live dance within that digital sandwich.
I was never a Dark Crystal fan and so the relevance of Wayne McGregor’s update of the Jim Henson cult movie of 1982 (he clearly was a fan) to herald a forewarning of environmental disaster in the 21st century was rather lost on me. Two ritualistic tribal leaders made regular appearances: one, a shaman covered in straw; the other wearing an evocation of a bird’s head, apparently made from shiny foil with some similarity to a scrunched-up chocolate wrapping. I didn’t know their significance and since I’m colour blind and one half of the programme was printed in tiny light grey typeface on a grey background, I am never likely to know (what kind of whacky graphic design decision was that?). Isaiah Hull’s narrative voiceover contained a stark and simple statement (“I guess the next generation pays the price”) signalling the clear and present danger of environmental destruction but most of his words were just as inaudible as the stage technician’s earlier announcements, although she had the very reasonable excuse of being unprepared.
The saving grace among this hotchpotch of failed and cluttered technology and a confused and meaningless narrative were impactful costumes (by Dr Alex Box) and McGregor’s varied choreography, superbly performed by skilful and expressive dancers. One significant bonus to the afternoon’s experience was the welcome opportunity to again appreciate the silky strength of Salomé Pressac’s dancing and Jordan James Bridge is always a charismatic and powerful performer. Within the mix were a clutch of outstanding duets, one superb trio and several powerful solos. It was outstanding dance, right up there in the top drawer of McGregor’s choreography but I would have preferred to have seen it in a less accessorised state. Less is usually more but this was a case of more and more adding up to a lot less, especially when it takes three attempts to get it going.
