X
Recipient's email
Your name
Your email
Message (optional)

E-mail to a friend Find tickets

Justitia

Published Friday 11 May 2007 at 11:05 by Lyndsey Winship

In her latest dance theatre piece, Justitia, Jasmin Vardimon matches narrative clarity with astonishing visual imagery in a balance that is notoriously difficult to achieve. Where the text in much dance theatre relies on a clumsy mix of memories and observations devised by the performers, Justitia wisely uses a script, by writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz, which provides a solid structure for Vardimon’s movement to enhance, explore and illuminate.

The premise is a murder trial, where we are presented with a number of variations on the events of the fatal evening. Dancers Paul Blackman and YunKrung Song - playing the victim and the accused - get the chance to really test their versatility as actor/performers and both come off well. Also impressive is Victoria Fox as the defence lawyer, who must carry the narrative as well as throwing herself into the extreme physicality of Vardimon’s choreography.

Just as Vardimon realises the limitations of movement to convey a detailed narrative, she capitalises on its power, beyond words, to cleverly construct or deconstruct characters. And she manages the changing pace and mood of the piece, from humour to horror, without losing coherence.

Integral to the show is the brilliant rotating set, divided into three interconnected spaces, and dramatically lit. One wall is riddled with holes and pierced by sharp shafts of light, each looking like the sword of Lady Justice herself. The production values are high, but that would be irrelevant without substance. Luckily, Justitia is a piece of powerful choreography with that rare commodity - genuine theatrical appeal.

E-mail to a friend Find tickets

Production information

Management:
Jasmin Vardimon Company

Production information can change over the run of the show.

Run sheet

Hall for Cornwall Truro
April 17 2007
MacRobert Stirling
April 27 2007
South Hill Park Arts Centre Bracknell
April 30-May 1 2007
Riverfront Newport
May 3 2007
Lighthouse Poole
May 5 2007
Peacock London
May 10-12 2007
Playhouse Nottingham
May 15 2007
Brewery Arts Centre Kendal
May 19 2007
Garrick Lichfield
April 7 2009
Lawrence Batley Huddersfield
October 24 2009

Content is copyright © 2010 The Stage Newspaper Limited unless otherwise stated.

All RSS feeds are published for personal, non-commercial use. (What’s RSS?)