Scratch Special @ Platform
A one-off night at Glasgow's Take Me Somewhere, Scratch Special is three different performances of varying styles and mediums. The first act is a collaboration between Glaswegian band Tut Vu Vu and London-based sculptor and costume designer, Morven Mulgrew, as they tackle Erik Satie’s absurdist one-act play, Le piège de Méduse. The performance begins in a theatre-in-the-round format, but it quickly becomes clear that there isn't good visibility for all.
Those on the periphery are unable to see much of the show’s proceedings, further obfuscating what is already a fairly complex storyline, and by the time this is rectified by shifting the onlookers into the auditorium, the damage is done. While the performance succeeds in taking us “somewhere new” (complete with giant floating jellyfish and talking pool cues), confusion dominates.
The night’s second act reunites Swedish-born, UK-based choreographer and dance artist Ultimate Dancer (Louise Ahl) with Fritz Welch, a Glasgow-based sculptor and musician hailing from Brooklyn via Texas. Again, the performance is delivered in an immersive manner, with a ring of chairs in the centre and a concentric circle of spectators lining the wall for the performers to march around furiously. They mutter barely discernible phrases containing pleas of “cutting loose” and “setting free”, and circle round at ever-faster speeds. Is it a social experiment? A limited performance piece? The answer is unclear – but 30 minutes’ repetition of the same phrases and movements is enough for all.
The final piece, Cadaver Police in the Electrocution Afterlife, features theatre director Alan McKendrick with Glasgow instrumental trio Smack Wizards. Three onstage musicians provide the soundtrack to the story of the Cadaver Police, a fictional avant-rock band who persist despite never attaining popular acclaim. The performance is the most cohesive and intelligible of the whole night, with the barked narration owing something to Irvine Welsh in its brash honesty, while the musical interludes are punchy and even overpowering at times.
By the end of the evening, the audience have certainly been taken somewhere new – even though it might be unclear where exactly that was, and just why their Friday night was spent there.
Part of Take Me Somewhere festival