STRIKING A BLOW FOR NON-VERBAL THEATRE |
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) Composition: Gareth Farr, Murray Hickman, Takumi Motokawa, Tom Pierard, Leni Sulusi, Tim Whitta STRIKE at Downstage Theatre, Wellington From 3 Jul 2008 to 26 Jul 2008 Reviewed by John Smythe, 6 Jul 2008 |
Like Strike's four percussionists, earth, air, fire and water feature separately and together in multiple permutations to create the 13 works that comprise Elemental.
Murray Hickman, Tom Pierard, Leni Sulusi and Tim Whitta are earthed in their consummate and composite musicianship as they extract extraordinary sounds and rhythms from instruments wrought from minerals: metals, glass, ceramics and plastics. And skins, of course. Then there is wood (grown through the convergence of all four elements) which gives us sticks, Cook Island drums and xylophone / marimba keybars.
It is the way the performers move through space and make their instrumental objects interact with air that produces the vibrant percussive reverberations. A metal tube held and struck with a hard knob tocks like a clock, but tossed in the air and hit it dings, and played en masse they sing. The left front fender of a long dead truck produces a delicate sound entirely at odds with its lumpish bulk ...
Special mention, while we're air-borne, to Leni Sulusi who moves well beyond the call of most percussionists to combine riffing on a tiny harnessed drum with back-flips and break-dancing; then he and Tom Pierard stick-twirl, drum, balance and back-flip off each other: spectacular!
Racks of drums, gongs, cymbals and chimes, hung and strung for full frontal attack with the odd side swipe, are Strike's core equipment, with wheel rims and insulators also strategically mounted. As they reach their cacophonous crescendos we can either wallow in the belted welter of sounds or marvel objectively at the way they maintain and shift their intricate rhythms, micro-managing the component parts to macromanic effect.
Fire opens the show with the single strike of a match and quickly flares into flaming batons that flay the skins until they (the flames) are extinguished. Later the subtlest sigh of a flame and the sounds it can make when thrown through plastic tubes are explored with a lightness of touch then a playful darkness when one is used to evoke a blasting machine gun.
Water is the peacemaker and sometimes the clown, when the bong of a gong warbles into a boiiing as it's lowered into a bowl of liquid. Solitary drips and the flow of poured water also add to the more tranquil yet quietly effervescent rhythms and textures ...
These, then, are the elements employed with boundless creative ingenuity by the 'in house' composers: Hickman (Territory, Relentless, Water Sketches, Hydrophonic), Whitta (Territory, Streams, Earthworks), Sulusi (Drum Flip) and Strike as a group (Igniter); Gareth Farr, whose three pieces - Pukul, Tubes, Ukare Funk - are the most melodic; Takumi Motokawa (Blast, Lava), who earns a 'digital concepts and technology' credit, and joins the quartet for the encore piece.
The Works are detailed on the production page (scroll right down to find it). I'd advise swotting up on the notes beforehand because it's hard to read them during the show. Besides, it's probably better to get a sense of what has inspired them then free your own imagination to soar in subjective response to the works, which more often than not merge into each other (so it's hard to discern where one ends and another begins anyway).
Ollivier Ballester's invisible but vital sound design and operation are integral to the final mix. Van Locker's production design, lighting design and operation add illuminating value. A crew led by Stage Manager Helena Coulton work in the shadows to reposition equipment and ensure things are in the right place. And the overall shape and structure of the work is doubtless enhanced by the dramaturgical inputs of Willem Wassenaar and Miranda Harcourt.
But it is the four super-fit and tireless performers who shine in the night as they strike a blow - not least of fire down plastic tubes, and bubbles in air and under water - for non-verbal theatre. Downstage (the Hannah Playhouse) is the ideal venue for this production - oh, and by the way, the new and much more comfortable (so less distracting) seating is a blessing.
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