Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Wed 22 – Sun 25 Nov
For over two decades, Clod Ensemble has brought to the world ‘interdisciplinary performance.’ In short, the theatre company seeks to work at the intersection of form and discipline; weaving and twisting the spheres of acting, dance, music, science, and medicine into something new. Upon the genesis of something inventive and powerful, they unleash their craft across the world’s viewing platforms; from the Tate Modern to the Public Theater New York, to open public spaces and beyond. Following an award-winning presentation at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Clod Ensemble bring their newest piece Under Glass to the Wales Millennium Centre for a four-night residency. Under Glass is a continuation of Wales Millennium Centre’s tradition of taking risks on left-field and challenging productions.
Arranged in jars are the specimens: human beings, characters plucked from the torrents of their everyday lives and laid bare in cold isolation for your examination. Under the lights (microscope lights?), the glass walls of their prison, and the constant scrutiny of the observer, each character attempts, with the reality of their small, enclosed worlds beyond the jars against them, to live within their limits: a couple occupies a claustrophobic space, a man sits at his desk and ignores the glass around him, a woman stands there alone…part lab experiment, part museum exhibit, part dramatic performance, Clod Ensemble continue to defy category and comparison, blending original score and choreography with striking visual imagery. Under Glass challenges our preconceptions regarding solitude, observation and loneliness. By presenting a visceral symbiosis of emotion and grotesque medicine, the production is a visual masterclass in translating feeling into creation. By presenting a collage of human bodies, we are forced to confront our own prejudices and beliefs. As a production that critics have already named a ‘haunting’ and ‘beautiful’ exhibition of the creative and unexpected, Under Glass may still be on your mind long after its run at the WMC this November.
Admission: £14. Info: 029 2063 6464 / wmc.org.uk (JM)