Writer/Director: Kevin Finnan
Nobody, the new dance/circus production from Motionhouse Dance, has a sinister opening. Although the cast are depicting a murder of crows, their synchronised movements are almost robotic and artificial rather than natural. There is, however, no mistaking the atmosphere of menace as they crane their necks scanning the horizon as if searching for prey. Sophie Donaldson’s costumes, resembling shreds of bondage gear, bring a shabby sense of desperation.
The crows, we’re told, represent the inner voices of the characters as they try to make sense of their lives. It is hard, however, after the stress of the pandemic, not to see them also as representing an external, physical threat with which the characters must cope particularly in scenes where communal activities and socialising produce such excitement as to suggest such actions have become unfamiliar.
Kevin Finnan, who conceived and directs Nobody places the characters in a distinctly urban environment. The noise of a bustling city echoes around the theatre upon entry and digital imagery from Logela Multimedia creates a panoramic cityscape on the rear wall. Simon Dormon adds depth to the set; a series of simple rectangular boxes litter the stage, lit as if to suggest windows in an apartment block, while a large cube projects out of the rear wall. The movement of the boxes and the sudden adjustment of the size of the projections gives the claustrophobic impression of the buildings closing in around the cast and audience.
There is a constant sense of striving against confinement and pushing boundaries. Both physical and mental limitations are challenged; at one point a dancer contorts her body into painful positions twisting to escape from one of the rectangular boxes. The spirit of community is promoted with a pair of friends chatting merrily while ignoring a companion who is literally sinking in the background.
The cube is the centrepiece of the highly adaptable set. Covered in cloth it serves as a screen for projections and, when stripped, acts as a climbing frame for the acrobatic cast. Yet, as the frame is highly mobile and can be lifted and shifted it also becomes a hazard- tumbling around as the cast attempt to climb- or potential cage or simply a meeting place.
The first act is closet to classic dance. The cast emerge from their crow outfits into casual clothing to explore the options open to them. The crows, however, remain obstacles to development- dragging back dancers as they try to move forward or simply acting as burdens weighing down their partners. Even when not physically present the crows hang over the dance; during a sequence in which intolerant finger-pointing speeches are mimed masses of black feathers burst over the screen projections.
The second act is more abstract and features a greater use of acrobatics. As the movements become less introspective and more expansive the cast fly through the air with (apparently) the greatest of ease and the mood shifts towards dramatic at times celebratory. The individuality of the dancers is reduced with them wearing identical nondescript clothing. ‘Birth’ or ‘escape’ may be themes in act two as the dancers emerge struggling from the sea or perhaps experience re-birth. The communal need to work together is always apparent; at one point the dancers form a pair of human chains dangling from the climbing frame to pull out a friend who has difficulty emerging.
Nobody is not a relaxing experience; despite the dancers taking extreme risks there is no safety net. It is hard, therefore, to avoid shouting aloud as a dancer steps backwards off the climbing frame trusting their friends to ensure a safe landing or when a tower of dancers crumbles leaving them to roll to safety. When the equipment proves inadequate the dancers simply climb over each other forming human ropes or chains as a perfect practical display of the cooperation needed to get through life.
Nobody is an engrossing and intoxicating dance which everybody will enjoy.
Reviewed on 10 February 2022
