A brief interlude

We had our first proper performance of 'Everyday Fairytales' today, which was... odd. But I'm waiting to receive the photos from the splendid Carl, who among many other lovely people braved the wet and cold to help us out, before writing too much about it. More to come on that front.

I thought that I'd write instead about a show I went to see last night - Punchdrunk's 'The Masque of the Red Death' at the Battersea Arts Centre. Punchdrunk are, to quote their website, a company that 'creates a theatrical environment in which the audience are free to choose what they watch and where they go'. They take over spaces - in this case the BAC (who knew it had so many rooms?) - and transform them into alternate worlds where the audience - masked for anonymity - can explore the space or follow the actors, thereby eradicating the 'fourth wall' and encouraging active audience participation. Last year they took the theatre scene by storm with their production of 'Faust', based on the man who sells his soul to the devil. This year they're doing 'Masque of the Red Death', which is 'inspired by the short stories of Edgar Allen Poe'.

It's certainly atmospheric. The moment you enter you're pushing through thick drapes lit only by sparse candlelight, forced to move slowly in case you trip. Smoke and dim lights are the order of the day in this building, and my goodness it's huge. Opium dens; perfume shops; attics; wine cellars; tiny, claustrophobic spaces hidden behind fireplaces... this production presents you with a world and an atmosphere and tells you to be brave. The actors use the space as if it were a circus ring, dangling each other over banisters, levering themselves up doorways and throwing themselves around with astounding energy and bravery. I'm ashamed to say that on more than one occassion I found the producer side of my brain wondering how much the insurance cost.

I didn't get much sense of a story - I was too slow to keep up with many of the actors, and wasn't lucky enough to be one of those spectators grabbed by them to accompany them on their next journey. However, at the end of the evening a bell summoned us to a huge ballroom - complete with Phantom of the Opera organ pipes - where an acrobatic dance was performed to my favourite piece of classical music - Dance Macabre. Watching the actors spinning over each other's heads and leaping with abandon into each other's arms was breathtaking. I didn't even mind very much that I had missed experiencing the build-up to this astounding climax.

Very sexy, very beautiful, and very eerie. More 'live art' than theatre, I felt, but if you can get hold of a ticket it's worth every penny.

It was also interesting for me from a Mutabilitie point of view. We want to explore the boundaries of theatre; mixing art forms together and using unusual spaces, and this did that superbly. I think that I would choose to concentrate on story more, but perhaps that's taking a limited view of what performance should be. A thought provoking evening, and one I won't forget in a hurry.

[in case you would like to know more about Punchdrunk, you can visit their website at http://www.punchdrunk.org.uk]