X-Factor are back on familiar territory with Alan Greig’s new piece with the company.
The After Hours is a haunting exploration of the world of dreams which manages to touch and expand on many of the ideas he has previously examined as it jumps from one dreamscape to the next.
Except this is Greig in a much lighter mood. His camp, white-clad archangel-like figure strides purposefully across the stage, at odds with the physical choreography given to those around him and delivering strange dream-inspired monologues. He makes great use of individual dancer’s talents and physiques to create a piece which finds both humour - in a line of surreal sixties-pastiche party goers - and nightmare as Lisa Manavit becomes trapped, naked, underwater.
By contrast, guest choreographer Colin Poole takes smouldering anger and bursts it into flame with Smoke. This is abrasive dance which brings atavistic ideas of the viciousness of a pack to a piece about the futility of war in general and the sheer expendability of young men from the ghetto in particular.
Poole himself takes on the role of a military officer, sneering and disinterested, while the five other dancers play out the tragedy of Stuart Bowden as a young recruit. Finding an explicit narrative and inspiration from Elvis’ In the Ghetto, the piece has enough in it to provoke a thoughtful response but lacks the fluidity which would provide greater strength and cohesion.
Both pieces are particularly well served by Chahine Yagroyan’s precise lighting and added to by Lynda Gray’s costumes.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
Content is copyright © 2012 The Stage Media Company Limited unless otherwise stated.
All RSS feeds are published for personal, non-commercial use. (What’s RSS?)
