The Life and Times of Girl A Review

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Rating (out of 5)
5
Show info
Company
Scottish Dance Theatre
Production
Ben Duke (choreographer), Holly Waddington (designer)
Performers
Solene Weinachter (Girl A), James MacGillivray, Toby Fitzgibbons, Joan Cleville, Rocco Vermijs, Naomi Murray, Jori Kerremans, Ruth Janssen, Natalie Trewinnard, Matthew Robinson
Running time
40mins

Scottish Dance Theatre has always embraced the total art of performance, drawing together physical movement, theatricality and music. This exciting multi-media work by Ben Duke blends monologue, dialogue, live video film,  an eclectic mix of music from Bach to the Cure and exquisite dance.

Girl A, standing centre stage, is a smartly dressed woman who begins to tell her story, by way of directing a film for a group of “actors.”  Setting the action in a bustling airport, that timeless no man’s land, she creates improvised sketches to dramatise going on a long haul flight or meeting a lover. Humorous, lighthearted, fun, the scenes focus on social interaction and relationships, the arrivals and departures within our lives. Solene Weinachter creates the central role with her charming, sexy French accent, attitude and style.

A video camera follows Girl A as she tries to differentiate what is real, what is fantasy. “I have no memory” she admits, looking in the mirror to check her face, her body for signs of a forgotten romantic encounter. The live film footage of her image on screen creates a different perspective of how we observe her - how we see ourselves.

At its theatrical heart, true emotional expression is narrated through seemless, shifting choreographic moods, from gentle, duets, energetic quartets to fast paced, synchronised ensemble sequences.  This short, sharp, forty minute dance-drama is inventive, innovative and visually stunning - this company just gets better and better.

Airport

Words distract,

From colours, movements, gestures,

From the purity of vision

The visual distracts,

From meaning, sense, communication,

From the essence of expression.

- Roderick Manson (inspired by The Life and Times of Girl A).

Show times
19 and 21 August, 7pm

Ticket prices
£12 (£10)

Scottish Dance Theatre is also performing NQR and Drift at Zoo Southside till 22nd August.