Wed 27 Mar
words: DANNY CHAMPKEN
★★☆☆☆
Featuring a portrayal of the artist by Aaron Jeffrey, Michelangelo Drawing Blood explores his strongest influences, from Christian faith to human anatomy and the male body, a feature made most prominent by the almost constant presence of Michelangelo’s nude muse, personified by Stefano Giglioni, perhaps the motivation for much of the audience’s attendance?
Sound Affairs promised that their production would bring Michelangelo’s drawings to life, and indeed, the shapes that Giglioni forced his admirable body into were instantly recognisable as actually quite accurate representations of the Renaissance artist’s great work. His contortions were accented by bold and thoroughly impressive light structures and projection animations. The staging, period musical instruments and other frankly bizarre video projections, however, did nothing to contribute to that aim of bringing Michelangelo’s work to life; instead they actually served as a constant and increasingly bothersome distraction. Credit is due though to the young countertenor, James Hall, whose rousing voice stood out from the discomfiting notes that accompanied it, thus successfully offering the promised insight into Michelangelo’s Christian influence.
Jeffrey’s Michelangelo was emotive, impressively agile and quite, well, wild. Such is the nature of interpretive or expressive dance I suppose, but I couldn’t help feeling that the internal torture of the artist was somewhat lost in this style of demonstration. In conveying and exploring those influences behind Michelangelo’s genius, I’m afraid that Jeffrey was outperformed by Giglioni’s impossibly spirited left buttock, although perhaps that seemed all the more impressive as my own had been dead for some time.
Michelangelo’s passion for the male form, demonstrated physically by way of the relationship between he and his muse, was the constant and most bold theme. While the piece was undeniably performed passionately, and certainly exuberantly, I was nonetheless unaffected for the most part. Although I can’t say I was left entirely unmoved; Giglioni’s spectacular physique was enough to at least stir the loins.
A brave and fascinating piece of theatre, I would recommend Drawing Blood to the more imaginative of culture-seekers, but have no real desire for a repeat performance.