REALLY WORTH SEEING

Sleep/Wake
Direction & Design: Sam Trubridge
Creative Collaborator: Professor Philippa Gander
Presented by Massey University. A collaboration between the Sleep/Wake Research Centre and The Playground (NZ Ltd)

at The Print Factory, 35 King Street, Newtown, Wellington
From 29 Jan 2008 to 10 Feb 2008

Reviewed by Lyne Pringle, 2 Feb 2008

This production marks a significant collaboration between The Playground NZ Ltd (Sam Trubridge's company) and the Sleep/Wake Research Centre directed by Professor Philippa Gander, who is recognized as a creative collaborator in the process. 

Trubridge deserves considerable congratulations for drawing large and disparate elements together to mount this production. One would hope that the considerable resources that Massey has poured into presenting this production and the success of these collaborations bodes well for partnerships in the future. There is a level of sophistication for a Fringe production above and beyond the usual production values for performances fashioned without this level of support.

So the chief creative collaborators have opened up a dialogue between the science of sleep research and the science of performance using the premise that in the world of the sleeping body there is fuel for theatrical exploration into "aspects that lie dormant within us ... hidden performances of the self, paranoias, chimeras, obsessions, anxieties, ambitions and dreams". There is a stated aim to meld the languages of movement, image and science to explore a realm where we spend one third of our lives. Choreography is chosen as the predominant mode because - as stated at a pre -show forum - it is most suitable for expressing certain sleep states.

35 King Street is an unused warehouse space, new to theatre events: it is exciting to come to this unknown setting and there is a palpable pre-show buzz in the audience as they settle into a well organized venue with an interesting set. The programme is unreadable in the dark preset.

Appropriately there is a person sleeping: Claire Middleton, who is wired up to scientific equipment which maps scalp, eye and jaw activity onto a laptop. Curiosity is evoked as blips on screen draw audible responses.

A very formal beginning to the evening leaves us in no doubt we are in the presence of auspicious guests: Phillipa Gander's speech at the beginning is a theatrical punctuation in its own right in terms of valuing the work and placing it as important.
James Conway-Law plays, with dignity, The Orator who introduces us to scientific information about the sleeping body and the data now projected large onto the back wall of the set. It is both technical and poetic text, setting the tone for the interweaving of the scientific and artistic realms; "Without sleep, life is a long seamless today". 

Although the text is quite fascinating the director has made tricky choices for the actor here in terms of costuming and mode of delivery, making it difficult for the audience to relax into the work. He is a cross between Morpheus from The Matrix and a Minonian snake goddess and as such needs to surrender more fully to the theatrical potential of this image. Delving into a physicality to support the text might be interesting.

As Sam Trubridge has stated, watching someone sleep is the antithesis of performance and this is indeed the case as the tempo of the work is slow in building. It is quirky, yet oddly appropriate, to have a world record freediver / apneist, a projected William Trubridge, representing the tension that occurs when the circadian body clock - our own planetary body aligned to the rotation of the earth - is tampered with.

When the tyrannies of modern life styles demand more and more of the individual, less and less sleep results in bodily dysfunction. The Sleeper is forced to wake up and perform certain tasks by The Orator as the pace picks up. There needs to be more interesting explorations of a human's daily repeating physicality along with the more easily recognizable physical tasks we all do.

In the third scene we are getting ready for dreaming: more scientific information here about how the motor and visual systems take over and memory, logic and critical judgment are repressed. The spinal chord is blocked. "Dreams are not acted out in the real world but exist in a virtual reality." Very Matrix.

There is some clunky action with props here as music - subtle yet totally appropriate sound design from Bevan Smith - enters the mix from this point on.

The sleeper moves to a door at the back of the set, signalling some exhilarating manipulations of the exquisite set, providing depth and a surreality to the performance. An unexpected draught of air is thrilling, making the audience gasp. Strange creatures are fleetingly exposed as the emergence of humour delights.

There is background choreography on 3 beds in a row from Middleton and wonderful dancers Elizabeth Barker and Maria Dabrowska. Tossing and turning bodies express the restlessness of this pre-dreaming phase of sleep.  Unison choreography is followed by a dynamic boneless limp duet with trademark Dabrowska moves. The production is lucky to have these dancers on board with a distinct language of their own, given the short rehearsal period. There are risky moves that had members of the audience gasping once again at the precision involved in staying on the bed without crashing wildly flung heads into head boards.

A strong choreographic sequence is achieved by the two dancers manipulating The Sleeper with inventive use of a sheet as the beds are well used to support an inert body. Bright lights, a rumble of sound and the emergence of a sleeping bag with 4 legs signifies the emergence into the REM zone of deep dreaming.

Subtle and totally sympathetic lighting by Marcus McShane imbues the whole evening with texture and dynamics. The frame of stage is continuously used in an excellent way as Boris the Bear played by Dan Williams flits in and out. Masked stage hands expertly manipulate set and objects. Walls are used effectively to signify the altered spatiality that one often experiences in dreams as the excellent set continues to yield surprise after surprise.

Yet often the work, for all its brilliant ideas and elements, feels as if it needs more rigorous direction in terms of pacing, logic, energy, rhythm and pitch - if it was wired up to a machine it would produce a flat read out. More time beyond the brief 3 week rehearsal period I' m sure would help this. It takes time to develop a choreographic language. 

As we enter the confusing realm of the mythic, The Orator begins to sing in Latin about the life of the spirit after death as he moves into a different role. Taps are turned on and water precious water begins spilling as the set becomes even more alive. Water reflects onto the wall and ceiling of the set to give a stunning effect.

But words about mythology are hard to catch and it seems the director has pushed off from the shores of the scientific into the seas of the well chartered scapes of Greek theatre.  The metaphor for sleep as a descent into the underworld and fuel for ancient mythologies is less successful here and perhaps needs to remain tethered to the pragmatics of the scientific method.

Now as Orpheus, The Orator makes a long journey to the front of the stage and re-enacts his folly by turning back to see the sleeping Eurydice before she has safely left the realms of Hades. He takes off his costume, bathes his face and spends what seems a long time singing into a sink - presumably re-enacting the breath holding sequence from earlier and crying a river of tears as he grieves. Meanwhile sleeping dancers with eye masks sleep on the fringes as water seeps towards them ... We are in absurdist territory now. Wet dreams abound and nightmares take over as the sink explodes.

Orator/Orpheus roams convincingly forlorn as the audience is fascinated with the water filling space.  A beautiful passage of highly articulate dancing follows with a stunning visual dialogue between the reflections on the set and the dancer's bodies: Maenads luring Orpheus to his demise is one of the most successful integrative moments, for the various disciplines, in the show.

The energy and tempo escalate here with thrashing heroic work from the dancers as the audience is sprayed water and feathers fly.

A flurry of activity with strange creatures, whirling jacked up beds and gyrating dancers leaves no doubt we are in the hell realms of nightmare but the build is overly long and loses some of its punch.

The final scene is somewhat confusing as state of the art earth shrinking technology is used in an attempt to rectify the doomed reunion of Eurydice and Orpheus.

However the final image leaves a wonderfully poetic image on the retina.

This is a rich piece of theatre art with rich collaborations woven into the tapestry of the whole; an intriguing dance between science and theatre. How fantastic that Massey has come to the party to resource this production well. It would be good to see Trubridge and his team given the time that they need to fully realize the 'science of performance'. The relatively long season should prove fruitful in terms of development.

Really worth seeing.
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