The Arden School of Theatre

REVIEW: Get A Clue ( The Arden School of Theatre: The Waterside Theatre, Manchester)

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Get A Clue by The Arden School of Theatre, Manchester
Get A Clue by The Arden School of Theatre, Manchester

 

Upstaged Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Get A Clue is the latest performance piece produced and performed by the third year BA (Hons) Dance and Performance students at The Arden Theatre School. The whole hour-long piece has been choreographed in just four weeks as a collaboration with international choreographer and dance storyteller, Cindy Claes.

Armed with detective style magnifying glasses, realms of unsolved case papers and a lifetime supply of paperclips, the talented ensemble present an alternative perspective on the life of a crime-solving detective. Fusing spoken word with hip-hop, dancehall and contemporary dance, the performers fill the space with energy and a good dose of wit as they showcase their skills.

The performance commences with our lead detective and her portfolio of unsolved cases – in a beautifully stylised and rhythmical sequence each file is presented to her. Uttering the subject of each case, the dancers slam each heavy pile of papers down in front of the detective. My only qualm is that this opening section may have been stronger if it had taken place in the middle of the stage.

Slowly, our detective feels the pressure of her increasingly heavy workload – she appears to become more concerned with the way that her papers are held together, than with the actual content of each case. Will she ever find her missing papers clips? Are her deceptive colleagues hiding the paper clips from her?

Paper fills the stage as it is thrown around in a display of disorganisation and madness creating a visual display of unease and chaos. Our dishevelled detective lies sprawled on the floor in the centre. Beautifully simple but powerful imagery.

There are some delightful sequences when the whole company is on stage together. The line-up was a highlight for me – simple choreography and clever storytelling by the ensemble. There is also some entertaining slapstick storytelling as two of the detective’s assistants quarrel over a chair. Each facial expression by the cast further adds to the narrative.

A dance off between our lead detective and a rival detective was particularly pleasing – confined to the simple ‘click’ – how far could these two take this basic movement to appear better than the other? Georgina Thompstone certainly shines as being a capable dancer and skilled storyteller.

This was a wonderfully entertaining showcase from a group of highly talented young dancers, who have a very bright future ahead of them. Well done!

-Kristy Stott

REVIEW: Khloé Kardashian ( The Arden School of Theatre: Waterside Theatre, Manchester)

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upstaged rating: 

The opening words of Chekhov’s play, The Three Sisters are projected at the back of the stage before we are introduced to a man in a mouse suit who calmly describes our journey to the theatre today. The Three Sisters is set in a Russian provincial town but we are sat in a black box theatre in the centre of Manchester. Devised and performed by the students at The Arden, Khloé Kardashian explores the real time and space of performance.

Working with the live-art and experimental theatre group, Sleepwalk Collective, the current cohort of the BA (Hons) Theatre and Performance at The Arden, have created a deeply profound contemporary piece, which certainly encourages the audience to search for their own narrative outside of the confines of the performance space.

Using a Christopher Brett Bailey inspired soundscape, beautifully overwhelming and uneasy at times, we are introduced to six different personas (Paul Burke, Tristan Chadwick, Lily Rae Hewitt Jasilek, Sam Lowe, Frank Macdonald and Kate Smith) – their voices are only ever heard when they speak down a microphone.

Reminiscent of Forced Entertainment, particularly Bloody Mess, the costumes worn by each of the performers suggest narratives for their personas. We have the darkly comical mouse with his deadpan delivery; we wonder if the elegant lady in the red dress is somehow connected to the dapper gentleman with the cummerbund. A pregnant F1 pit girl totters along pushing a small television into the view of the audience.  As the audience, we are encouraged to be active in drawing the dots on these fragmented narratives. The whole production is carefully and intelligently sculpted – there is always something different for the audience to cast their eye over.

Khloé Kardashian is a densely layered and poignant performance piece, occupying the space between text and performance – it seeks to deconstruct Chekhov and expose the illusion associated with such a naturalistic performance style. A props table is packed full of antiquities in stark view of the audience. One performer toasts a piece of bread before another chews on a cracker as he reels off Facebook-style memes into the microphone. Every little sound is heightened here – it feels awkward, fascinating and strangely entertaining.

As the darkness falls at the end of the performance to the sound of the haunting and relentless slow clap, I wondered if some themes could be excavated further as individual performance pieces. Such an absorbing performance with definite scope for further development.

-Kristy Stott