ED2019 2/5 Reviews ED2019 Theatre Reviews

Solitary (Dutch Kills Theater Company)

By | Published on Friday 16 August 2019

Billed as an ‘intense physical performance’ exploring solitary confinement in US prisons, I was disappointed to find this piece more mime than physical theatre. A slow first segment showed a man in confinement for a day, which would have been enough to showcase his boredom and isolation – however, this was repeated several times. The piece was nearly saved by a chilling sequence using rope to represent his confinement and the madness it caused, but it reverted to mime again shortly after, unnecessarily portraying whole conversations whose content became obvious in seconds. An interesting addition was the use of Foley and live singing, although I wished the sound artists had been on stage to add another visual element, rather than to the side which was just distracting.

Assembly Rooms, until 24 Aug.
tw rating 2/5 | [Izzy Cutler]

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