DanceLondonReview

The Wedding – Barbican, London

Reviewer: David Guest

Creator: Amit Lahav

Wedded bliss is a long way from reality for the characters represented in the creative physical theatre piece The Wedding, which makes a welcome return to the Barbican following a run in 2019.

Creator Amit Lahav’s dynamic piece, presented by Ipswich-based Gecko, is not so much about happy ever after as it is married chaos in all aspects of life – wedded, as it were, to work, relationships, the state and society as a whole. It’s an exhilarating union of physical exploration and imaginative dance, in which hate and disappointment are as likely to win the day as love and happiness.

The marriage metaphor twists and turns, with stark narrative, movement, near nightmare imagery, and multiple languages coming together in a way that is sometimes bewildering, occasionally alarming, but always thrilling. Above all, this theatre of absurdity and confusion becomes an art form that punches its message home. So many of us are bound by conventions, traditions, expectations and contracts of modern life that a desire to escape becomes the only option even when it seems impossible to do so.

The ideas of marriage, divorce and separation are constantly re-evaluated by the powerful nine-strong cast and it becomes clear at many junctures that it is entirely up to the baffled audience to make of it what they will. This is certainly not a show where you can sit back and relax hoping everything will be neatly explained. Indeed, creative interpretation may be the rewarding challenge of the piece.

A surprisingly upbeat ending that has the audience attempting to join in (largely unsuccessfully) only comes after 80 minutes of a dismal dystopian despair that would make Orwell proud.

It starts brightly enough, with performers emerging from a slide (and thanks to clever sound design it seems as though they are sliding in around the auditorium) and falling onto a pile of teddy bears, full of childish hopes and dreams. However, they are the softest things you’ll find in a bleak landscape where every fancy tulle gown is matched by a dank office space and business suits and where confetti is not always a cause for celebration.

While there are examples of “married life” and personal relationships the scope of this production is much broader. A question mark hangs over the life, love and work balance of individuals and there are plenty of instances of the office invading every part of our daily routine. In one story a worker’s phone, briefcase and tie float around him, threatening to overwhelm the domestic normality of life with his partner. Elsewhere workers find themselves confined in smaller and smaller spaces as they commit themselves to their jobs.

Although five years old, the piece has many moments of contemporary resonance. Who will not have thought of Westminster with many of the briefcases in evidence resembling red Parliamentary despatch boxes and parties where faceless bosses satisfy themselves oblivious of the needs of the honest, hardworking staff beneath them.

One of the strongest narratives concerns four homeless people emerging from a suitcase and trying to survive through street performance, even engaging with the audience as they beg for money. There is a strong suggestion of the refugee crisis as we see their desperate attempts to belong but their efforts to run away seem to lead nowhere other than drawing them into the wider story.

As a story there is a constant blur of cultures, classes and experiences in this provocative collage, but the production itself blends creative sound (noteworthy, pulsing design by Jonathan Everett), lighting (Joe Hornsby), set (Rhys Jarman), costume (Gayle Playford) and constantly shifting musical genres (Dave Price) as its shifts from light to shadow, sound to silence, nightmare to hope. In all the confusion these heighten both understanding and perplexity, creating a thrilling landscape.

The performers are all magnificent. Each of them speaks their own language as well as others learned for the piece and each distinct world is presented flawlessly, with everyone on stage contributing to the bigger picture without losing the necessary individuality. It’s hard to know if you should focus on individuals or try to watch them as a whole as they weave the elaborate threads of the work together with careful symbiosis.

In this bold, unpredictable and experimental production, when all seems lost, when the walls and contracts confine individuals to increasingly enclosed spaces and despair seems the only option the positives begin to add up, optimism starts to shine through and flowers of rebellion blossom. There is an ultimate union of ecstatic freedom and co-operation.

Runs until 11 June 2022

The Reviews Hub Score

Engaging escape from dystopian despair

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The Reviews Hub - London

The Reviews Hub London is under the acting editorship of Richard Maguire. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.

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