Showing @ Summerhall, Edinburgh until Sun 24 Aug (not 11, 18) @ 17:20
Nordic television is currently all the rage in British homes but Copenhagen based company Livingstone’s Kabinet, demonstrate the other end of the Danish entertainment spectrum. There’s no real narrative or through-line to this surreal and confusing presentation. Instead we are shown a series of vignettes that don’t appear to have any connection.
A leg of ham is lowered from the ceiling, only for an actor to stand very close to it and insist it be raised again. It’s not that the scenes aren’t engaging – the lowered ham (a kind of leit motif) is as amusing as it is baffling – but it’s frustrating pondering its significance. Music is used throughout and this helps to enliven the more bizarre moments, the harmonised argument over a lorry’s colour is again entertaining in itself but the lack of explanation of how it relates to the rest of the show makes it hard to care about it.
The production seems to be pointing towards the notion that life is made up of small, apparently meaningless moments that eventually gel into something larger and more cohesive. However the journey towards this resolution is too long and so difficult for the viewer, it’s hard to stay invested in what you’re watching.