To Have Done With the Judgement of God

• Liam Hainey
• 8 August 2018

This article is from 2018

Classic work given physical heft

Fear No Colours' reinterpretation of Antonin Artuad's final work is infused with brutal soundscapes and aggressive dance. Artaud has been cited as a significant influence on the output of Beckett and Ginsberg and fans of those better-known writers will quickly recognise the rhythms and tones.

This physical interpretation is defined by intense noise and percussive dance. The piece deals in part with the brutality of industry and the cast's movements are filled with violence. Even the opening segment, in which four men emerge from an egg like structure and are quickly coached into adulthood by the cast's two women, is filled with menace and threat.

The aggression of the dance doesn't just take place when the performers interact: there are moments when the bruises forming on the performer's limbs seem audible as they individually thrash agonisingly on the stage.

Sadly the performers' power and energy in movement is not matched by the spoken word. The purposefully fractured speech is passed between the performers and beats are too often missed. When in sync, this pattern provides a mechanical beat that matches the brutalist tone of the piece, but also serves to highlight the too-frequent points when the rhythm is lost.

C too, until 26 Aug (not 13), 8.15pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£8.50–£9.50).