I didn’t really
know what to expect when booking Casting Traces. Quite frankly, I still don’t
really know what to think. After hearing about it on a Facebook group my
interest got the better of me, but we all have to try something new, right?
The premise of
the promenade show was a detective story that showed themes of surveillance and
transformation. Neither the story or the themes influenced me nor, for the most
part, did I have a clue about what was going on. I caught glimpses of the action
but the visually stimulating aspect of the play, an incredible paper maze that
the audience are led around by spotlights, was not well thought out and meant
that a lot of the action was fragmented. The other main visual used was
projections that helped create a sense of location and move the plot along.
Although cleverly filmed, my interest was sometimes caught on what was being
projected rather than the importance of the action and the relevance was often
questionable.
The dance and
movement arrangements were interesting and the repeated sequences showed their
changes in emotion through the tempo of the music and the way the skilled dancers
executed each move. There was no doubt that this progression portrayed a story
but at times I felt disconnected from the characters. As well as backing
tracks, a violinist (Aisha Orazbayeva) was in the same space adding to the
ambiance and providing a rare, distinct quality to the action.
As a promenade
production, Casting Traces had a greater sense of intimacy in comparison to a
commercial show. A white coat distinguished us from the performers but didn’t
distance us in any way. The freedom to move where we wanted and the dancers
performing inches away from you creates this unusual atmosphere, however, I’m
not sure that this was beneficial to the production.
I’m glad I saw
this production, it was definitely a new experience but all the incredible
visuals, amazing ideas and atmospheric music just didn’t blend into the creation
it had the potential to be. There was a lot of WOW but that doesn’t create the
mind-blowing piece of theatre we all want to see. I will be interested to see
what New Movement Collection have coming up next but hope that it impresses me
more than this.
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