Sadler’s Wells, London
Beautiful choreography and a clever script create a shifting, unknowable world in Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young’s new show
I think we can confidently say this is the first ever dance-theatre piece about the AGM of a group of medieval reenactors. In their latest collaboration, choreographer Crystal Pite and writer Jonathon Young – whose previous works include the searing Betroffenheit – land us in this leftfield setup, one that offers multiple layers, and the opportunity to get both lost in fantasy and caught in petty mundanities. “Coffee?”, asks one member arriving at the meeting. “You know it’s on the agenda that we have refreshments later,” comes the officious reply.
The distinctive style Pite and Young have honed sees Young’s clever, fast-talking dialogue performed by actors in voiceover, while the dancers lip-sync and express the text through their bodies. Their gestures have the same nervy energy as the script, exaggerating rhythm, giving the words extra articulation and physical humour (there’s a lot of comedy in the text).
