At Earthfall |
| Earthfall Dance- At Swim Two Boys , Theatr Brycheiniog Brecon , May 31, 2005 |
| this review first appeared in the Western Mail Wow. If the past few days have offered a foretaste of the Cardiff Festival of Dance, then I can’t wait: first an exciting new piece by Charlotte Vincent for Wales Independent Dance in Newport and now Earthfall’s stunning new show at Brecon, both heading for the capital’s celebration of the coming-of-age of Welsh dance. And, even allowing for the usual feeling of well-being engendered by pre-show dinner in Tiffins Theatr Brycheiniog restaurant, At Swim Two Boys seems to me a major piece of dance-theatre that managed to engage, excite and exhilarate almost to the point of emotional exhaustion. It’s based on the award-winning novel by Jamie O’Neill (a long-term friend of Earthfall directors Jim Ennis and Jessica Cohen), the story of two teenage boys who fall in love in Ireland at the time of the Great War and the Easter Rising and who seem closest when they are swimming in the sea – hence the set (designed by Gerald Tyler, usually involved with the company as a performer), an area of water with a wall that is like a constant waterfall, within which Terry Michael and Cai Tomos perform fully clothed, in kilts and in trunks. Earthfall’s strengths usually lie in the company’s quirkiness, its wit, its mix of dance forms, its range of performing styles, but here it is an intense duet that gains from the discipline – all that you can say is that it fits with the company’s policy of surprise. As with all Earthfall shows, this is obviously no ordinary performance – there is, as ever, live music accompaniment from Roger Mills and Frank Naughton, muted trumpet and electric guitar creating a lyrical soundscape, and a backdrop of film that merges archive footage and film of the two boys. In its more energetic moments, it is (dare one say it) reminiscent of Gododdin-period Brith Gof, all muscular physicality, but in its overall wordless eloquence it is unlike anything else you will have seen, I suspect, at times almost agonising slow motion action, at others synchronised rigour. What you also usually get from Earthfall is content: the shows are about something, often something serious. At Swim Two Boys is clearly an allegory of love and peace, of gracefulness and tenderness, that is played out against a bloody war and a national revolution, the sea acting as a kind of safety zone immune to the conflict and bloodshed. “I don’t hate the English and I don’t know if I love the Irish, but I love him and he is my country,” says one boy, expressing the passion that overrides patriotism. But I suspect the story may be about more and I’m not convinced I found it in this very moving production, where the personal relationship between the boys – never explicit or overtly intimate – made the flickering images of soldiers and insurrection seem irrelevant. It is, nevertheless, a deeply affecting piece, one that manages to combine sensitivity and physicality, and one where so many aspects of the production work together – the set, the mournful horn, the lighting, the choreography, the silent exchanges between the boys, the sheer art in the dancework. One last point: you may well cry but you will also get wet if you sit near the front. Come prepared to be moved and soaked. # At Swim Two Boys returns to Wales at Theatr Clwyd on May 23-24, plays the Hay Festival May 27-29 and is at Chapter Arts Centre as part of the Cardiff Dance Festival June 8-18. |
Reviewed by: David Adams |
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