“An ambitious pageant of epic design and breath-taking movement.“
Kate Stratford
4 suspended moments
Whenever Legs on the Wall is involved in a production, there are sure to be amazing physical feats. Add in a merging with Dead Puppet Society and there is sure to be something special in this marrying of aerialists and puppets.
Apart from the aerial artistry, the most striking aspect of this production is the design. Anna Cordingley and David Morton’s work on set and costumes, along with Ben Hughes lighting and Tony Brumpton’s sound, is faultless. All design aspects work seamlessly to create a forest in Greece, or a room in a palace, or depths of the sea or a battle camp on the shores of Troy. A huge disc hangs and moves over the stage. It is variously the moon, the sun, an indicator of the passage of time – and a reminder of Achilles’ shield. A shield which was emblazoned not with pictures of war and victory, but the lives of ordinary people. With lighting and sound, the aerial work allows us to explore, besides battle, the metaphor of water, of drowning and of being vulnerable. In the best of theatrical tradition, all elements serve the show in multiple ways. Spears are not only a reminder of the period, but are an intrinsic part of the movement and a phallic reminder of the nature of war. The fleet setting sail for Troy will remain etched in memory.
Because the Trojan War was, of course, an excuse. Legend has it that Menelaus and Agamemnon declared war on Troy because of the alleged abduction of Helen, Menelaus’ wife. They called on the rest of the Grecian city states to support them on the basis of an alliance forged by Odysseus (he of the Iliad & Odyssey fame). History has since pretty much decided it was a trade/power war. Agamemnon was looking for a reason to take Troy out of the Aegean trade power grab and Paris’ running off with Helen gave him a “noble” cause rather than a grubby political one. Caught up in this grab for power are the athletic Achilles (Stephen Madsen) and the insightful Patroclus (Karl Richmond). At odds during childhood, their joint experience training under Chiron (Nic Prior) leads to friendship and ultimately, love. That two soldiers would become lovers was not unusual in Ancient Greece. Plato wrote that male sexual relationship improved the bravery in the military and whilst not all city states actively promoted it, it certainly was never discouraged. This particular take on the Trojan War centres, as the title would suggest, on their story.
There is a sense, however, that performers and director were so focused on movement and visual representation (the necessary hours and hours of rehearsal!) that scant attention was paid to connection to character. The dialogue is awkward and emotions are superficial across the whole ensemble. As an audience we may be impressed with what we see, but we still need to feel that connection to character, to care about what happens to them.
An ambitious pageant of epic design and breath-taking movement.
It could have done with less of the spoken word. If the production had more faith in its own genre and brilliance, then traded more dialogue for choreography, the story-telling would have been mesmerising.
Kate Stratford, Theatre Now
