Showing @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh until Sat 02 Nov @ 19:30
Playwright Thornton Wilder regarded the theatre as “the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another, the sense of what it is to be a human being”. It’s a profound statement that makes clear theatre has a purpose beyond storytelling or entertainment. Vox Motus, National Theatre of Scotland and Tianjin People’s Art Theatre’s production Dragon, explores themes of grief, bereavement and growing up. It’s a physical and visual performance – the story told without words – that aims to connect with and uplift the audience.
Conceived by Vox Motus’ Candice Edmunds and Jamie Harrison, Dragon follows Tommy (Scott Miller), as he learns to come to terms with the death of his mother. One night, he meets a dragon that simultaneously represents and understands his grief. With the dragon being both his best friend and devil’s advocate, chaos and order are at odds as Tommy navigates family and school life.
Oliver Emanuel’s protagonist is the ‘everyman’ figure: he is neither naive nor weak, just desperate to ground himself while the world around him continues to change. Jamie Harrison and Guy Bishop’s puppets create the dragon, in its various incarnations, growing steadily along with Tommy’s frustration. It is not an Eastern dragon as such, but the influences of Chinese philosophy are apparent; the dragon symbolises power and strength, a positive rather than negative force as in Western culture.
The story is told with movement and imagery, which develops the relationship with the audience: language is a barrier that has been broken down to allow anyone and everyone to engage with the story. It is an inadequate form of expression for Tommy but the resounding sense of his loneliness and uncertainty is made clear. Dragon is ultimately about change, the chaos it causes and the search for equilibrium in the aftermath. It is not cathartic, but will inevitably arouse a sense of shared experience: after all, we all harbour our own dragons.
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