I AM FALLING. To 2 February.

London.

I AM FALLING

Gate Theatre 11 Pembridge Road W11 3HQ To 2 February 2008.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm ~Mat Sat 3pm.
Runs 45min No interval.

TICKETS: 020 7229 0706.
www.gatetheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 9 January.

The impact of death on life brought dramatically to life.
In itself, this is worth seeing. I Am Falling uses dance and spoken drama in a necessary fusion. A son comes to terms with his parents’ suicide, and how it reflects upon him. Simon Molloy plays the son, largely a spoken part, as a mature man whose parents have reached the end in old age, mother’s cancer becoming increasingly evident through her body.

But the parents, danced by Ben Duke and Petra Soor, are portrayed in the flush of youthful love. It’s expressed through their intertwined movements, and in a few verbal moments, such as his (apparently) unheard proposal at the top of a rushing waterfall. Asked what he said, he says it can wait - just the sort of moment that’s fondly remembered throughout life.

The brief spoken sections leap the situation forward, while Anna Williams’ choreography, more abstract, operates at a slower narrative, if physically faster, rate. Carrie Cracknell’s production also throws in cinema references, through Katharine Williams’ lighting in particular, though this seemed too much of a clever thing, a concept that serves no great purpose.

It creates some striking moments as light beams suddenly clear a path towards the audience, but along with the cinema-screen suggestion of Garance Marneur’s set (a design as evident in the Gate’s foyer as onstage) it acts to separate the audience from the immediacy of the action. As do the microphone-stands Molloy repeatedly, and deliberately, sets in place for his next speech.

Yet the piece is invigorating, genuinely mixing movement and speech to contribute equally, in their own areas of strength, towards its dramatic purpose, creating a picture that seems more specific and more intensely-felt than either could achieve alone.

Artistically, it’s no doubt good that it says all it needs in well under an hour, leaving none of the ‘how much better if 20 minutes shorter’ syndrome. But, unless you’re very busy and quite local, it’s a short reward for the journey. A £15 ticket equates minute-by-minute to some £45 for a full-length West End show. Having said that, it does something West End theatre doesn’t… and it’s your money.

Performers: Ben Duke, Simon Molloy, Petra Soor.

Director: Carrie Cracknell.
Designer: Garance Marneur.
Lighting: Katharine Williams.
Sound: Ed Lewis.
Choreographer: Anna Williams.
Assistant director: Ben Kidd.
Assistant lighting: Rory Kay.

2008-01-14 12:31:16