Absurd, joyful and breath-taking, this brilliant wee gem might be the dance/physical theatre show of the fest. 80 year-old, Christine Thynne holds us in the palm of her hands. Who would have thought such wit and humour could be conjured out of random materials: planks of wood, plastic bottles of water and ladders, orchestrating a repeating beat with her toes on a loop pedal and performance pad, with a sly smile to her accomplice and guitarist, Calum Paterson. Electricity and water mixed. Oh dear! But this show is about risk.
This brilliant wee gem might be the dance/physical theatre show of the fest
Lying on a table at the start of the show she talks about the difficulties of getting out of bed for an 80 year old, itemising each arm, leg and pelvic movement needed before she can sit up. This is in speech only, no movement. Amazingly, the audience is rapt, especially when she then demonstrates these actions. It’s a clever way of fooling the audience. For this 80 year old proves to be extremely agile later, playing not only with the forces of gravity of the random materials on stage, but demonstrating an impressive balance herself, if a little wobbly at times, taking risks a younger performer would hesitate at. There are also moments of gloriously abandoned dancing to one of Mendelsohns’ Songs without Words: surprise and joy the hallmarks of the show.
‘This performance isn’t about - or attempting to say - anything,’ says Robbie Synge, the show’s co-creator and director, disingenuously. Despite no story or autobiography, it celebrates with gobbledegook script, dry ice, chutzpah and gardening gloves for ‘health and safety’ that volumes can be told about Christine’s indomitable spirit, an inspiration to us all. The audience were rapt throughout. This collaboration between Synge and Thynne has evolved over decades. Long may it continue.
