Under the helm of Artistic Director Simon McBurney this production is beautifully and imaginatively choreographed. The puppet of Shun-kin was eerily effective and all the acting was strong with a sharp and efficient ensemble, however, it was that story itself that was lacking for me. Shun-kin who is adorable for all of five minutes at age eight quickly turns into a complete bitch. And that's putting it nicely. Once she becomes Sasuke's shaminsen teacher she goes absolutely power hungry and becomes a a complete dominatrix, which eventually leads up to the blossoming of a sadomasochistic love affair between the two.
There's one scene where the two begin to have sex, and puppet legs were brought out. I couldn't help but laugh. And the woman sitting behind me couldn't help it either. Thankfully they eventually switch the puppet for an actual woman, although she wears a mask and is treated like a puppet. By the end I was ready for both Shun-kin and Sasuke to die.
Interspersed with the Shun-kin story is that was a woman who serves as the narrator, doing a voice recording at a studio of the book. Although her stroyline is pretty much irrelevant, she serves as much needed comedic relief. And her voice as the narrator was enchanting. Although she spoke in Japanese (it was all done in Japanese), as I read the surtitles I could almost here her voice in English - it was wonderfully eerie. Also, the woman playing the voice of Shun-kin and who later transforms into her mature self was absolutely pitch-perfect (she's the one on the right in the picture above).
The narrative perspectives were often times a bit murky - one character who I think is supposed to be Tanizaki (who originally wrote the book in 1933 as a factual historical piece, when in fact, it is just fiction) feels completely superfluous. His character adds nothing to the show.
With narrative/character issues aside - it really is visually stunning production. Fantastic use of lights and shadows, paper as birds, sticks as halls and swaying trees, breath as the sound of sliding doors and the constant hum of the shaminsen make for a thoughtful and constantly shifting mode of storytelling. I just wish I knew Japanese, that way I could have just watched the action onstage and not the surtitles, trying to follow the story.
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Kira O'Reily's piece Untitled (syncopations for more bodies) is comprised of five nude women with black showgirl-esque hats, round mirrors and red heels. They slowly and meticulously entered the space of the Great Hall. Playing with the light and the mirrors as audience members walked around the space. Then a frenetic shift occurred and the ladies frantically moved backwards about the space - with audience members trying to get out of their way. Then there were a series of movements and then more frantic backwards walking and then more stationary movements. Based on the title syncope has a wide variety of meanings - most of which deal with loss: loss of consciousness, fainting, loss of sound, a missed beat. Although there were bits that I found intriguing, I think overall the piece misses the mark. Although I also found it fascinating how after a while, a nude body no longer appears nude.
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| I'm the black blob hunched over on the right. |
Ron grew up in the Pentecostal church and was brought up on spiritualist teachings. For this project, stories of his upbringing were used to inspire us, (in a hypnotized or trance state) in automatic writing. We wrote pretty much non-stop. While we were writing, "editors" went around cutting out stories to give to typists to type on typewriters. In the background, piano keys were hit ominously by boxing gloves (it sounded amazing). I'm not really sure what it looked like to the spectators because I was so focused on what I was doing. I was, however, acutely aware of the audience looking at me and trying to read what I had written. It was a very out-of-body experience. The first night I wrote out a lot of very personal and slightly troubling feelings, which I why I think for the second night it wasn't so personal. I think subconsciously I knew that I'd be able to feel people reading my words so I kept the writing at a slight distance. I have to say though the second night I was really in a deep trance - I was writing some crazy shit and even wrote in symbols and gibberish. Over all it was a cathartic experience and immensely pleasurable.
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Last night I went to Shunt with my friend Jane and her flatmate. The first performance was called Tiny Distractions by a company called Fail Better. The lower "Sauna" room from the Machine was completely covered in plastic wrap and clad with a bubble wrap floor, with a telly on with static playing in the up-left corner and a record play in the down-right corner, center - a table and 3 chairs. The performers (two girls and a guy) were dressed in white tank tops and undies. With their intensity and committed movement it was an absolutely riveting piece and stunning to watch.
The late night show was called Beast which was an installation/performance piece that utilized all three stories/floors of the Machine and explores humans' relationship to eating meat. It was stunning, disturbing, and intoxicating. Down on the bottom floor was a tribal "creature" eating human head. On the 1st floor were "animals" (wonderful masks and head-dresses): a rooster, cat, owl, hippo and others with a dear at the head of the table. And on the second floor (where we were standing and able to see though the glass floors all the way down to the bottom) was some scary futuristic human farm which was much too similar to modern day farming practices. At the end the woman feeding the humans brought a tray of "meat" to us for us to eat. As soon as I grabbed it I knew I would not be putting it in my mouth. Jane, on the other hand, wasn't so bright. Ha!
Another gripping, fascinating piece. I seriously made me think about becoming vegetarian/vegan. But I think this typically once ever other week so I don't think it had much of an effect. I can't say enough how much I love this venue. Although the show Money is ending soon, I do hope they keep the Machine up for a while.
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