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At Earthfall |
| Earthfall , Theatre of Wales , April 15, 2024 |
Earthfall were Wales' leading exponent of a hybrid theatre-dance art-form. Their productions were well regarded over a long period and received critical acclaim beyond Wales. After their last production in 2015 the Arts Council of Wales ceased public funding for the company. The final review: “Inexplicably there will be no more magic, after half a life time of wonderful work the Arts Council of Wales has withdrawn the company’s core funding” “You can catch the company’s final performance at the Mac Birmingham on the 6th and 7th November.” From the reviews below: "Stories from a Crowded Room": 30 October 2015 “Individual emotions, some passionate, some with great humour were played out in smaller spaces after we had been gently guided into the best position to observe the scene. Each time the extraordinarily well - played and enchantingly sung music perfectly matched the action. We seem to get closer, more involved as the ‘stories’ moved on. “Now in their 25th year, once again artistic directors Jessica Cohen and Jim Ennis, with their award winning touch have brought together a wonderful and highly talented ensemble of dancers and musicians. Rosalind Haf Brooks, Jess Haener, Eric Martin Kamosi, Sebastian Langueneur, Rachel O’Neill, Alex Marshall Parsons, Iain Payne, Beth Powlesland, Lara Ward and Rhian Williams totally captivated and beguiled its enthusiastic audience. "Chelsea Hotel": 04 December 2013 03 November 2013 “Chelsea Hotel” in the hands of co-directors Jessica Cohen and Jim Ennis is not a narrative but a richly threaded impressionist homage. Time shifts are indicated by the cast of four dancers travelling on film in a vintage lift with its double wrought iron concertina gates- the location is Cardiff’s Jacobs Market. Mike Brookes’ design, with collaborators Michael Blackwood Barnes and Julian Castaldi , creates emblematic images- a curlicue-patterned carpet, an elaborate glass chandelier, drips of water on a window pane. A flower-patterned wallpaper is not so far from Shani Rhys James’ obsessive “Rivalry of Flowers”, just a couple of walls’ distance from the stage. “ “Chelsea Hotel” is rich in suggestion. The lights dim to evoke an Edward Hopper interior. Still pictures make reference to Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Robert Mapplethorpe’s sexual evolution is expressed in a fetishistic encounter with a dominatrix. Large cards with hand-written lyrics are reminiscent of the young Bob Dylan and the film for “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. The Chelsea Hotel, much feted in memoir, has its most celebrated place in musical history in Dylan’s “Sara”. Earthfall’s envisioning may be soaked in layered reference but it is not a history book. It is performance, fusing sound, image and movement into a honed seventy minutes.” "After the Birds": 16 September 2005: 20 September 2005 “But it’s not really Greek comic drama that’s on offer here, in this co-production between the Polish Theatre Association Chorea and Welsh dance-theatre company Earthfall, but a very now mix of choreography, politics and music that in an hour can set your hair on end, thrill you and drain you.” It was the pure theatricality that engaged the sell-out audience at Chapter and from the opening minutes there is an electricity that suggests that we are witnesses to something very very special.” "At Swim Two Boys": 16 June 2005: 31 May 2005: 25 May 2005 “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.” "Running Away with the Hairdresser": April 30 2004: 01 May 2004 “Earthfall’s latest show is undoubtedly the most entertaining thing I’ve seen for ages – great music, lots of energy, witty, funny, sexy and a million miles from the pretentious, coy, cutesy kind of so-say lighthearted dance we’ve had of late. “You can’t really categorise this maverick Cardiff company. Dance is at the core but there’s always plenty of theatricality, video streaming, music and references to a wider culture – and more and more to cinema, especially film noir.” "I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down": 12 April 2003 “It was loud it was impressive it was EARTHFALL re-siting their latest production, I Can’t stand up for Falling Down “with a bigger band, a string quartet, an opera singer”, in this vast industrial cavern. The overall impression was a whirl of precision; vital dancing with loud penetrating music that got us all shook up inside. This was my first Earthfall experience and my first time appreciating just what experimental physical theatre is all about. Artistic directors Jessica Cohen and Jim Ennis are true, fearless and driven innovators.” "AD": 02 March 2001: 01 March 2001 “So begins the latest production from the internationally renowned physical dance company Earthfall. This fragmented memories of three characters provide the interweaving narratives of this production which mixes film, dance and song to prodive an interrogation of the best and worst aspects of father-son relationships. This intimate, lyrical exploration of male relations touches on many issues, not least that of masculinity itself. The performance suggests that sons learn how to define themselves through their fathers, be it in opposition to them, or in trying to ape them.” Picture: Chelsea Hotel |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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