*** (3 stars)
“Glorious moments”
My goodness, that was LOUD!!
So loud, that I was suffering. So loud, that what words there were to the songs were distorted beyond the possibility of my hearing. So loud that at least some people present will inevitably suffer from hearing loss..
And the pity was that it could have been so good if they’d just reduced the sound levels a bit.
I chose this show hoping to have a pleasant hour having a window opened on a culture with which I’m not very familiar. Alas, it didn’t quite work out like that – though I have to say that the majority of the audience seemed to enjoy themselves enormously.
The essence of the show was, I think, to highlight the importance of water. It’s essential to all life forms on this planet: without it, very little can survive for long. It took some elements of ancient wisdom: that people make too much noise all the time when they should rather stop and listen; and that in a time of water shortage the adorable but much-persecuted pangolin would find Bantu, the chosen one, who would lead people to a source of water.
Unfortunately, the previously mentioned noise meant it was almost impossible to distinguish any wisdom. Much of the show was taken up by extremely good but to me somewhat uninteresting contemporary dance in which, yet again, the blokes wore baggy garments and the women’s costumes left very little indeed to the imagination.
Not my type of entertainment…
A huge screen above the stage gave us some wonderful images – animals walking slowly through virtual deserts; tropical fish swimming in crystal clear waters; jellyfish pulsing through the sea; a black and white urban landscape that morphed into a riot of colour; and gloriously jewel-bright colours flowing and merging in fabulous patterns. Sometimes these enhanced the dance, at others they provided a welcome distraction.
There were glorious moments – particularly when a dancer with a cloak of lights wove patterns with it against a background of a night sky blazing with stars.
There was virtually a party political broadcast on behalf of the earth, outlining the damage humans are doing to it – the earth is crying out for help – and set against horrific film footage of plastic-filled oceans, lakes and rivers. Impressive, but it was followed by another loud pop song with unrelated movements, rather than anything to enable the message to sink in or be taken to heart.
The pangolin did find Bantu, and water returned – I think: but the final lipsynched film monologue wasn’t very intelligible, and the final song was even less so.
The message was undeniably powerful, but for me the way it was put across worked against it. A pity. Hopefully others in the audience will have been greatly moved – there was certainly plenty of appreciative applause for most of the dance numbers and at the final curtain call.
Africa Power: the colour of water, Music Hall at Assembly Rooms (Venue 20) for more information go to https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/africa-power-the-colour-of-water
ScotsGay Arts 