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Look At Me
- World Premiere.
An Experiment in Collaboration For Theatre developed with support of The
Arches.
Devisers and Performers - Herman Van Baar and Andrew McKinnon.
.
Lighting Designer - Stephan Roe..
Company - Wayward.
Venue - The Arches Glasgow.
book online or 0901 022 0300 (calls cost 25p per minute). EdinburghGuide.com
page on the Arches
including past reviews & festivals.
Dates - Wed 9 - Sat 12 April at 8:30pm ,
Run Time - 1 hours 5 mins no Interval.
Reviewer - Thelma Good .
An experiment but is it enough?
Well it's an experiment and if you've never seen inside the devising
process it does reveal a bit of the odd world of creating something out
of thin air and the performers. But is it enough for the paying audience
who don't otherwise get to see into this process?
Andrew McKinnon is plainly the Scottish part of the combo, dressed in
a kilt and Hermann is from Holland. Though the painted clogs, tantalisingly
visible under the director's table at the side, never get used, there
are other details from Holland, pulling up bulbs from the flower fields
and mention of polders. Andrew leads the blindfolded and barefoot Hermann
onto the stage and asks "do you want an audience?" Hermann says
yes. Which just as well because we are there watching.
A story starts to develop and Andrew gives Hermann directorial assistance.
After a few false starts, a story based on Hermann's life emerges. Taking
us from his traumatic experiences in the month before he was born to the
strange life of an actor who's got a thing about breasts though it's men
that attract him. Played with frequently comic touches - Hermann as a
unborn babe is not to missed - the piece hints at differences in the two
countries' approaches to theatre performance and the roles of the director
and actor.
But it doesn't explore enough of the free falling delight of devising
or theatre making, and basing it specifically on the real life of Hermann
is a considerable flaw. On stage you can be someone else, indeed should
be someone else and whilst we get other characters - his mother, brother,
a fellow actress, it doesn't escape his essential self even though we
see his past identities.
Look At Me has come from working together in Amsterdam, Glasgow and a
3 week concentrated period at Cove Park. But though sometimes interesting
and lively it doesn't reveal enough of the universes you can stride and
leap around in when devising - free yet nourished by your own past experiences.
The biggest challenge of a devised piece or any theatrical experiment
or production is to create something which audience feel included in a
fully realised and communicating experience, a challenge Wayward's first
attempt doesn't fully manage. As we look we remain entertained spectators,
not yet a audience drawn away from ourselves into a world where both actors
and audience are liberated.
© Thelma Good 9 April 2003. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
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