Showing @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 4 Feb only
Editta Braun has been producing dance, theatre and movement work for twenty years now, travelling and teaching across the world to push the crossover possibilities of dramatic art-forms. This new piece has a lot to live up to then; and it does so with a masterful, expressive journey into how body in theatre can be remodelled.
After being plunged into total darkness, the light creeps back onto the stage to reveal writhing, pulsating figures; serpent-like, genetically modified creatures which roam freely across the space. It’s a challenging new exploration of the body, how feet can become faces, legs can become bodies and torsos seemingly independent of their owners.
Accompanied by a forceful electronic soundtrack from composer Thierry Zaboitzeff (imagine if David Lynch scored for theatre) – there is a stealthy passion to this show. Precise, razor-sharp choreography provides a sense of purpose, every twitch or jerk driving the evolution of these “creatures” from crawling, slimy monsters to free-standing animals. There’s a hypnotic, almost pendulum-like absorption to it which sucks you into the world of such intriguing movement, bestriding somewhere between dance and physical theatre.
This isn’t to say the piece is knotty; it nimbly challenges our prescriptive attitudes towards movement in theatre, applying differing techniques in which the performers appear as puppeteers of their own bodies. Including a bit of humour as well, the performers face the audience with their backs-turned, lying upside-down, to give the impression that their backsides are large, staring eyes. It’s entrancing at times, urging its audience to reflect on the representation of character through body and how this interdependent relationship can be transformed and warped. Though the slow, calculated pace can linger a moment too long and requires quite deep concentration, it demonstrates the extreme strength and technical accuracy required to pull off such an experiment. Editta Braun should continue to be celebrated as a visionary in the fields of dance and movement; this venture offering a refreshingly intricate meditation on the versatility of the body.