Temper Theatre once again return to Edinburgh to gift audiences with a performance well worth three times the ticket price. Gripping the question of human origins, not a single second is wasted in this fast-paced, breathtaking exploration of genesis.
Tribe is an absolute necessity and prepare for an exhaustingly draining hour; but you will far from regret it.
There just aren’t quite enough superlatives for Dom Gowland’s soundscape. Not a hairs breadth from the lights dimming, we are pulled full focus into an audio induced nightmare of corporate clipboards, meetings and drunken colleagues on ‘non-compulsory’ nightclub visits. We thrive on a kind of schadenfreude as the protagonist, played by Jack Bentinck, dances like a marionette to the beat of a ticking clock from person to person. Exasperated at this character’s persistence, we are not aware of our proximity until the humming of a smartphone is heard on the soundtrack and our guilty pocket-reaching makes us reassess the victim of this fable. It is certain that part of Temper Theatre’s magic is in its surrealist relatability, while still delivering a world class feat of performance.
The lighting design, equally, mustn’t be neglected as Temper Theatre’s frequent boast; merging the use of simplistic portable lamps with visually stimulating and ephemeral side-lighting, the effects manipulate our attentions with an omnipotent ease. The sound and lighting act as a kind of sentient force reminiscent of the elements, at one point stunningly representing the birth of a child. Indeed, the dynamic role of lighting is so refined as to be revisited in motifs of physical choreography, fusing together the roles of actor and tech with alarming verisimilitude.
The cast do not lose faith to their roles for a moment, even when performing some seriously athletic theatre. Finn Morrell’s choreography unquestionably requires meticulous effort and professionalism; however, despite full justice being given to the beauty and exactitude of sequences, all faces are constantly engaged and devoted entirely to the performance; we have no choice but to be moved.
Tribe is an absolute necessity and prepare for an exhaustingly draining hour; but you will far from regret it.
