Writer: Andreas Bedorf
Directors: Andreas Bedorf and Pedro Perez Rothstein
The real event that this dance-theatre show is based on is only alluded to in the show’s publicity on the Camden Fringe website, so those expecting a rave of some kind will be totally surprised and even shocked. A group of friends go to a festival to drop acid and dance, but one of them has a bad trip. However, when the situation becomes even worse, Noa realises that the carnage around her is not due to her hallucinations.
Of course, the event that Andreas Bedorf recreates in his play is implied in its title, and when the audience realises what is actually happening as the party is tragically interrupted, Dance Again feels breathtakingly brave. With the music thumping and the lights flashing, there is a palpable sense of panic as Noa (Stephanie Christodoulidou) tries to find her friends. That it comes so late in the play, after dance sequences and ordinary drug banter (“Molly is so predictable,” says one of Noa’s friends), adds to the enfolding terror.
Bedorf is at the decks wearing a sort of Noh mask that underlines both the surrealism and the terror of the evening. The friends dance in front of him, trippy graphics projected on a screen behind him. The dancing is loose, like their clothing. They call Ahmed (Weyal Bariz) the Champion of the Rave while Rami (Chris McCormack) is there to Save The Rave. Occasionally and satisfyingly, the friends come together in more choreographed movements.
It’s hard in theatre and film to represent the effect of drugs on someone; perhaps, Oliver Stone’s The Doors was one of the best to illustrate hallucinations on screen. Bedorf and his team, however, pull out all the stops that the Cockpit affords. It’s just a shame, though, that the theatre has no air-conditioning and that the complimentary paper fans usually there at the door are unavailable tonight. An unused floor fan teasingly hides in a corner. Dance Again is a very physical show, and the actors drip with sweat.
To create such a daring and electric play, Bedorf has to tread a very careful path through politics and opinions, but he has done well to focus on a small group of friends rather than the wider fallout from this one event. The final, yet conflicted, scenes of redemption are welcome.
Runs until 12 August 2026
Camden Fringe 2026 runs until 30 August
