Fri 22 Feb
words: ADRIENNE WALKER
★★★☆☆
As a Theatre graduate and a keen admirer of physical theatre, I was excited by the prospect of seeing Crashmat Collective’s latest production which promised a “feast for the senses, as well as the appetite”.
After going through a set of rules for the performance and being issued a badge according to whether we were going to dine on meat (a trapeze badge, in case you were wondering) or vegetables , my guest and I met our host for the night Claude (George Fuller) and were quickly seated by our waitress Rose (Alice Ellerby).
The production itself is a combination of circus art, performance and music, revealing the inner thoughts of the seven staff of Claude’s Restaurant, as well as their dreams, crushes and hopes for the future. There is absolutely no choice but to get immersed in the drama as your waiting staff cavort around you, on you, overhead or even on top of your table.
With experimental theatre there are of course going to be things that don’t work so well and which need to be more carefully considered. Looking around the space there were clearly a few tight squeezes, which caused problems for both the cast and the audience. I myself had to sit sideways for the whole performance rather cosily in between a table leg and a side wall. The pace of the piece at times is also a little languid as the line between circus and restaurant blurs, and some of the more contemporary sections feel a bit overlong. The badges just don’t work which unfortunately resulted in a few of us being served a delicious, but almost stone-cold, dinner.
That isn’t to say though that I didn’t enjoy myself. I can appreciate how hard it must be to run a service whilst also being “on” as a character, and each member of the cast excelled. They take you through a spectrum of emotions with affecting performances that are sexy, humourous, and beautiful. Particular highlights were Libby (Gemma Creasey) on the aerial hoop demonstrating the inner turmoil and feelings she had for her father, and Sam (Paul Evanson) had me completely enthralled with a trapeze sequence that left me dabbing at my eyes with a napkin. I will also say that everyone should have dessert served to them at least once by a catwalk model strutting like their life depended on it.
The production ends with a moment of such complete and carefree joy that it is difficult to begrudge Crashmat for the things that didn’t go quite right, and as the tour goes on to Theatr Brycheiniog on Fri 1 Mar and onwards I’d expect that these would eventually be ironed out.