DANCE

There is nothing Idle about the theatre company ‘Idle Motion’. ‘The Seagull Effect’ is a thoroughly eclectic collaboration of mediums in a dynamic piece of theatre which transforms the ordinary topic of weather into something extraordinary. Inspired by the freak hurricane in Britain 1987, this undeniably exciting company draw from countless creative perspectives and verbatim accounts, as they brave the elements with this resultant success.

But naturally, this silver lining isn’t without it’s cloud, the concept is overly complicated, overcast with far too many metaphorical strands and philosophical messages, mapping fate against the geological weather predictions, but the spectacle makes up for this pretentious front.

The storyline of two separated lovers reunited by the storm, felt awkwardly worked in, with nagging sentimentality. It was the main tale which was plucked from the chaos, and although the couple’s story explored another layer to the web of dramatic forms, the emotional intensity of their relationship revealed a gaping hole in the piece; their acting ability. Clearly, they made better artistic innovators than actors, as their chemistry wasn’t quite believable, and although I warmed to Kate Stanley’s characterisation of the woman, I found Alex Kearley-Shiers performance as the Man awkward and poorly acted.

The use of projection onto many different objects was thrilling and really slick, I loved the use of the multi-functional white umbrellas, and whenever they used multi-media projection, I felt it was incredibly effective through each artistic inflection.

The piece is a clear example of style over substance, but it works. The vast array of multi-media titivations constantly delivered really clever moments and as a result the show was thoroughly entertaining. The piece’s ambition cannot be faulted, but it attempted to metaphorical-ize the concept of the human body and emotions in harmonious sync with nature, which remained in dis-equilibrium in the eye of the storm.