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Circa
- Scottish Premiere part of The Six Stages Festival
Choreographers - Noam Gagnon, Dana Gingras
Designer - Steven R Gilmore
Lighting Designer - Marc Parent
Composer - Tiger Lillies, Steve Severin
Film - William Morrison
Company - Holy Body Tattoo (Canada) and the Tiger Lillies (UK)
Venue - Tramway Glasgow
Dates -11th 12th October
Reviewer - Chris Heiberg
Real talent & a wealth of ideas but no gelling
There was a sordid feel to the space from the beginning, a tacky red curtain
at the back, nasty cabaret club chandeliers, and a piano in one corner.
But nothing quite prepared you for the entrance of Martyn Jaques, lead
singer of the Tiger Lillies, hobbling into the single spotlight, white
faced, grotesque, his accordion flashing disco ball across the audience.
For anyone who has not had the pleasure of an evening in the company of
the Tiger Lillies they are a hard act to describe. Led by the face pulling
mesmerising gritty falsetto of Jaques, the other two in the band (drums
and double bass) constantly change musical references to keep you unsure
- one moment close to Weill, the next to baudy sailor songs and then back
to Parisian cabaret. The lyrics are no less outrageous than the rest of
the outfit, naturally delving and revelling in the outcasts and misfits
and seedy sides of the world - pimps and thiefs and sin feature aplenty.
Although the high point had to be their song Banging in the Nails - an
appropriately blasphemous tale of crucifying Jesus ('see that crown of
thorns, that was my idea'), complete with drummer demolishing drumkit.
But if the Tiger Lillies are hard to describe, they are even harder to
upstage, and the two dancers supposedly taking centre stage struggled
to draw the eye from the band. Not that the dancers were bad. Quite the
reverse, the technical skill was excellent, and together they created
several beautiful dances, bringing out aspects of a relationship. A tango
became a passion, but also slowed down to become a rut. Sharp physical
movements became arguments, even abuse. Love, commitment, breakdown of
trust, of communication, the quick fragility of the heart, all were played
out with real sensitivity and imagination.
However ultimately there was no gelling of the two elements (and the rather
amateur and uninspired video did little to add clarity or coherence).
Which was a real shame, because there was real talent
here, and a wealth of ideas; but so different were the two pieces that
they almost detracted from each other. It was hard to watch one without
being put off by the other, let alone understand why they chose to work
together. Lets hope next time we get to enjoy their work in isolation,
and that they have learnt something about the nature of collaboration.
© Chris Heiberg 12 October 2002. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
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