Deviser and Director: Ben Duke
Music Director: Caroline Jaya-Ratnam
Music Supervisor and Arranger: Yshani Perinpanayagam
Before Aishwarya Raut steps onto stage to dance through her life from birth (stage right) to death (stage left), she wants to make one thing absolutely clear: “I am not responsible for the concept.” The actual mastermind behind Rambert’s Death Trap is Ben Duke, who devises and directs this ‘meta dance comedy’. It comes in two halves, Cerberus and Goat, which premiered in 2022 and 2017 respectively, with Goat nominated for a 2018 Olivier award for Best New Dance Production. Building something ecstatic and powerful from its simple base concept, the illustrious company’s piece unpicks death, how we feel about it, what it holds, and who we leave behind.
We start with Cerberus, and with Raut’s riveting and lyrical solo as herself, straining against the rope which tethers her to the land of the mortals. Underscored by Romarna Campbell’s pulsating drum track, the piece is leavened somewhat by the attempts of a comedy double-act to rescue Raut from the afterlife, but ultimately settles into a dark meditation on mortality. After much experimentation with nets, ropes, and chairs, the entire company begin their mass march to the grave to an electronic-orchestral score (Caroline Jaya-Ratnam and Yshani Perinpanayagam), and it is solemnly poetic and intensely satisfying. Bodies are tense as they avoid the stage-left ‘portal’, stately in their resignation to it, or straining into each other in touching portrayals of couples making that journey together. Jackie Shemesh’s lighting design makes this episode a cinematic treat, encouraging audiences to muse on their own behaviour on their long, winding way to the ‘portal’ – are we struggling, crawling, looking upwards to the sky?
In the lighter-hearted Goat, Angélique Blasco is wonderful as a tactless TV reporter who stumbles across a ritual cult killing, in which the chosen sacrifice must dance himself to death. Against a live band playing the greatest hits of Nina Simone with perfect vocals by Sheree DuBois, the piece begins hilariously and descends, as in Cerberus, to a darker place. Jonathan Wade performs a compellingly frenetic solo as the sacrificial goat, and Musa Motha as Fate brings a slower-paced and more emotional tone to the piece. Even in its most serious moments, though, Death Trap still manages not to take itself too seriously. There are plenty of self-referential moments and a friendly atmosphere; BSL interpreter Clare Edwards is a highlight, interpreting creatively and joking about the task of signing dance itself.
Whilst its slightly improvisatory quality is what makes Death Trap so glorious, there are a few rough edges. Heavy reference to the Orpheus and Eurydice myth in Cerberus seems like an unnecessary detail which adds no extra power, and an attempt to link the two pieces after the interval feels tenuous. There is a hankering, too, for more full-throttle ensemble action. Duke treats the audience to no more than two or three energetic, full-company pieces – and when they come, they are so spectacular that the scarcity seems a shame. Death Trap seethes with creativity and spirit, however, and will stun on the rest of its UK tour.
Runs until 25 November 2023.
