THE TABLE. To 14 November.
London.
THE TABLE
Tricycle Theatre To 14 November 2007.
Daily 7.45pm Mat Sat & Sun 4pm
Runs 1hr No interval.
TICKETS: 020 7328 1000.
www.tricycle.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 9 November.
Forget the armchair; it’s all hands to The Table.
Few people grow up without exploring the musical qualities of household objects; bottles, jars, saucepans and the like. Poland’s Karbido Theatre Company bring along a table they’ve clearly prepared earlier. It’s multi-textured, resonating with an aural kaleidoscope of sounds made by amplified attacking, knocking and scraping.
What results could as well be from a festival of music, or a symposium of sound effects as a theatre festival. Yet, along with a dance performance by Lithuanian dancer Lora Joudkaite at The Place on 23 November (8pm), it forms this autumn’s programme for London's East European theatre season Feeast.
Karbido’s four male performers spend an hour seated round the table, which is set at 45% to an audience mostly seated on the Tricycle’s stage. Probably no-one can see all the techniques used to create sound on every side.
Soon, vocals are added. Stretched string vibrates; a violin bow’s used. The mood swings, the quartet’s energy slumping with a move to quiet finger-rapping. Suddenly, faces and postures energise as the pace and volume of sound resume previous levels.
There’s an imitative moment, as one player raises a sheet of paper slowly above table level while another taps out a 2-finger typing rhythm. There’s sudden silence, accompanied by a diminution of light, as percussive hands take a brief rest while a coin audibly spins.
Things move towards a climax as increasingly intense sounds are produced under a red light. Pre-recorded music flows in. Later, there’s a quietening as the lighting subdues to cool colours. Finally, the players leave one-by-one. A performance which had begun with blades being stabbed into the table, ends with a candle in the centre, and the last remaining person pushing a paper-boat towards it. Even with the amplification, it’s barely audible as it moves towards the flame. The culmination is light, in two senses.
Anyone keen on Steve Reich may well love The Table, and not only because it includes a few moments of ‘clapping music’. It’s ingenious, intriguing, inventive. And it’s up to every individual to decide if this is their way to spend an hour.
cast and credits not available.
2007-11-10 01:03:26