Creators: Romain Bermond and Jean-Baptiste Maillet
With the cancellation of major festivals and on-going disruption to theatrical performance, it is heartening to see that incredible creativity and expression can still thrive as Stereoptik’s Romain Bermond and Jean-Baptiste Maillet return to the Barbican for their latest show Stellaire ,showing for only six performances as part of the London International Mime Festival. It’s an ingenious piece that combines the story of the universe and the love of one couple with live painting, digital design, puppetry and musical composition.
Running at just 60-minutes, Bermond and Maillet take the audience through space by creating a single narrative that uses two scientific lectures given at a conference as its frame; the first about the history of space exploration and knowledge from Galileo to the moon landings followed by an explanation of the Big Bang, the creation of planets and how our understanding of the earth’s place in the solar system and wider galaxy has shifted.
The second strand follows the developing relationship between a man and woman who meet by chance in the street and are taken on a series of romantic adventures, initially in beautifully painted countryside where the hours pass all too quickly. Soon the two segments are brought together in a science fiction segment that sees the couple travel through space, observing the different landscapes and experiences as Bermond and Maillet point clearly to the chemical connection between every person and the elements that make up the universe.
Using three camera, lighting and projection rigs at the side of the stage, each of these scenarios is created using a combination of backdrops, painting, pre-recorded video footage and digital design that the creators layer and cut between. But some of the most exciting sequences are those made before our eyes including the delicate sand drawings of people that reference early cave paintings, blown away in seconds as a boot print on the dusty surface of the moon takes human progress to a new level.
A segment in which the artists work together to create the lush meadow for an early date magically comes to life from a series of painted lines that transform into trees and grass, the addition of darker hues moving the hours forward before the devoted couple find themselves sitting in a tree at nightfall. By scraping, smearing and changing the direction of the paint on the screen, Bermond and Maillet create an incredible sense of movement with just a few strokes of their brush.
There is also plenty of mood changes across this fascinating hour, using Maillet’s composition to create awe and wonder at the scale of the universe as well as tenderness between the couple and tension as we anticipate the outcomes – there is even a hint of 70s cop show theme tune as the lovers travel through these new worlds in their bubble-headed craft. There is some surreal comedy too and a favourite moment for the audience when an alien disco and mosh pit arrives which the creators show from very cinematic multiple angles.
There is so much joy in the creation and viewing of Stellaire that the story itself hardly matters and just watching two artists conjure scenes from a few lines of paint or handfuls of sand is extraordinary in itself. A remarkable show, full of inspiring creative talent and truly out of this world.
Runs until 5 February 2022
