Big Smoke

 

Theatre Ad Infinitum conjures the classic trades of the Lecoq School, mime, mimicry and clowning. When I think of Ad Infinitum, images of George Mann’s uncanny performance of a mirror double in Behind the Mirror (2008) springs to mind. As Billy Grantham of Extra Extra has remarked, ‘Where there are performers like Ad Infinitum… the spirit of Marcel Marceau will not die’. Certainly the three Artistic Directors, George Mann, Nir Paldi and Amy Nostbakken present themselves as a mime ensemble, committed to the universal language of the body. However, at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Ad Infinitum seem to promise something rather different; something more vocal, something solo and something musical.The show was directed by Nir Paldi and performed by Amy Nostbakken and they have chosen the voice as the most prominent feature of this production.

 

Nir Paldi and Amy Nostbakken explain their choice of medium. ‘We had to find a theatrical style that would suit the delicate subject matter of the show; the story of a bright young artist who mentally deteriorates before our eyes; a woman waltzing with the idea of suicide. Music came to mind very quickly -what doors can music unlock within the hearts of the spectators?’ From this statement, one can deduce that it is the subtle range of vocal chords that yield the intricate complexities of an artistic disposition. Nostbakken did not necessarily intend to recreate a biographical interpretation, rather she started with confessional writing and how it affects identity and the search for meaning in life. This led to focusing on the raw materials of Sexton, Plath and Woolf. Nostbakken wishes to use the voice to unlock the delicate thought patterns and processes of the female psyches in question, ‘using it as a tool and imagining that it moves in the space like a body; creating characters, spaces, emotions, provoking the audience`s imagination and exposing the internal world of our heroine - her stream of consciousness, her flashbacks and her obsessions.’

 

The Big Smoke is a show that excites me. I am intrigued to see if Nostbakken can wield one of the most current and relevant mediums to reveal something of these post-humorous women who speak to us today in the 21st Century. The trailer lures me with the face of a young woman singing into a microphone resembling a cabaret singer. This prominent and popular style seems to be an unusual choice to portray the reported shyness of Plath and Woolf but suits the boldness of Anne Sexton. I am also curious how Nostbakken has morphed three distinct figures into one protagonist and the way in which she will relate to the audience. I anticipate a heady concoction; articulate, sultry and wild in turns. In short The Big Smoke is an opportunity for Ad Infinitum to demonstrate the breadth of their artistic scope and challenge our current perceptions of their style, and of the writers they interpret.