@ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on Mon 30 May 2016 (and touring)
Constellations is a breathtaking and imaginative piece of visual theatre, with ingenious use of costume and staging techniques. The opening is beautifully surprising and immediately we are transported to an alternative reality that is both magical and joyfully surreal. Not a word is spoken in the piece, but the company, Aracaladanza, engage us with their expression and enthusiasm while executing complex movement in total harmony and precision with one another. Elegantly used magic tricks, contemporary dance (there is a strong nod to Martha Graham – especially in the use of some of the costumes), music and art blend together as the show unfolds with a perfect fluidity.
In a world of online media, excessive screen time and hundreds of TV channels, it is uplifting to see this kind of show; the kind that give children a reason to fall in love with the unique experience of live performance, because no screen can replicate the mesmerising experience of watching something like this on stage. It is definitely at the sophisticated end of children’s productions and not in keeping with pop culture, so not necessarily for everyone. For adults who baulk at the idea of sitting with their children through shows that involve gungeing or having to join in with shouting out and singing, this is ideal. While you definitely don’t have to be a child to enjoy this, you do have to have a childlike sense of wonder (although if you’ve lost that this could be a good remedy).
Gentle visual comedy is used at regular intervals – to delighted peals of giggles from younger audience members – achieved through a variety of means including simple puppetry, play-like interaction from the dancers and an animated sequence that cleverly links into the live action in the foreground. One of the most amusing of the very many characters we meet, is a strange red-handed, black-silked creature, with a helium balloon bobbing around for a head. Creating the weird and wonderful is certainly a speciality of this company and this is a delightful production with much to commend it, performed flawlessly by the talented cast.