THE BUDDY BOLDEN EXPERIENCE. To 22 March.

Manchester

THE BUDDY BOLDEN EXPERIENCE
by Garry Robson and Sarah Johnson

Fittings Multimedia Arts at The Royal Exchange Studio To 22 March 2003

Mon-Fri 7.30pm Sat 3pm & 8pm
Runs c2hr One interval

TICKETS: 0161 833 9833
Review: Timothy Ramsden 17 March

An experiment in form that quietly blows its own trumpet.Great drama it ain't, and I don't see no HIGH ART here. But this sort of quirky come-on makes theatre what it is. Buddy Bolden made jazz, and he lived most of its cliches too, the dreaming highs and the screaming lows. And if Fittings apart from throwing music, dance and some neat visual moments in to make up their 'Multimedia' tag keep us on our toes for their promenade production, it's all in the interests of bringing jazz form to storytelling.

They've a struggle on their hands, as audiences gravitate to any chair (or failing that the floor) rather than follow the action in free-flow form, improvising their own angles and riffs on the scene. Why, some preferred sitting in partial view in the Exchange Studio's foyer rather than getting down in on the action.

But a lot could be different, any night. Songs vary - the cast double as a Dixieland band, with some smooth singing and, especially in the case of Dave 'Stickman' Higgins, nifty footwork too.

Buddy came from where? From somewhere, or nowhere the spirit of jazz. His cornet brought the world together, way down in New Orleans. Way deep down in Storyville where respectable folks never go tableau of horror at its name. Working there in the barber's - rhythmic snip and strop of the cutting shop he married and made this world his instrument.

Then comes the interval, and afterward, self-consciously storywise, the downside. The jealousy, the loss of soul so photographer Bellocq can't find anything in him to photograph any more and final descent into a crazy wild thing that let the white man crow over the child-minded Negro sucked under by the orgasm of Devilman jazz.

We've heard it all before: but the point of jazz is to remake the standard, and this show does just that, soloing characters then uniting the voices for ensemble scenes there's a beautifully evoked afternoon in local Lincoln Park.

Its mix of structure and free-form, with clear-etched vignettes of life away from Main Street make this superbly acted, sung and danced show one happy event.

The Warden/Bellocq/Tom Anderson: Jem Dobbs
Buddy Bolden: Dave 'Stickman' Higgins
Nora Bass: Ayo Jones
Adele: Dawn Michael
Sweeper/The Reverend Sunshine Money: Ayo Odia
Various Men Having Sex: Akintayo Akinbode

Director: Garry Robson
Designer: Lisa Ducie
Lighting: Richard Owen
Sound: Peter Rice
Movement: David 'Stickman' Higgins, Ayo Jones
Photography: Joel Fildes

2003-03-18 02:45:00