Narc. Magazine Online
Reliably informed
Jacob Easton enjoys a visually stunning performance full of drama, humour and surrealism
Image: Kylie Jenner’s Private Jet by Joe Haydon Photography
What power do we have as individuals in the face of the climate crisis? It isn’t the lightest or kindest of plot points for casual fans of joy, nor does it seem the wisest of storylines for an almost inherently escapist art form (don’t we all enjoy escaping the banality of life, with a dance on how screwed we are?) But Pelican Theatre took this on, promising from the off ‘a show about dread’, a show about our powerlessness, our own climate saving futility in the face of rampant, obscene excesses from the rich private jet loving elite.
And it soared. Visually and audibly stunning, the show connected a series of characterful and beautifully arranged dance pieces that interwove drama, humour and all-out surrealism with command. The choreography of the slower pieces felt particularly seamless and serene, and the show’s dark comedy was well received, even with how dark it could get.
Because that was the thing, for a show about a fossil fuel-lead crisis, there was something almost perversely re-energising about it, renewable you might even say. That against one of our bleakest present-day truths, we can create thought-provoking, inspiring, beautiful and engaging works of art, left an odd feeling of joy, as well as a huge appreciation for the work of performers Ellie Trow and Pagan Hunt. Their subject matter may have inspired dread, but their production absolutely did not.
