No Living Room @ Zoo

Dancing like you can save the world

Feature by Zoe McKeown | 20 Aug 2010

One of the great beauties of a solo performance is that you can give the performer your undivided attention – and Robyn Stuart deserves every last second of it.

As the loud hand of time beats over a lone dancer’s dreaming body, the real world beats inside.

In hallucinogenic, virtual-reality theatre, the earth’s most consuming problems of climate change and the economic crisis come to life through mesmerising physical talent and technology.

As dark passages turn into waves, the sea and our natural resources become green answers to a broken, manmade world that has turned its back on itself to the detriment of its natural wellbeing.

Here, the show’s title becomes clear: If we don’t make a change, our ‘living room’ may cease to exist.

The words of the esteemed American Economist, Jeremy Rifkin “It’s not about growth – it’s about what you grow,” sum up the inspiration behind the show precisely.

“We are looking at the culture of tragedy and challenging this,” director Brian Curson explains. “A tragedy doesn’t have to be a tragedy - we can still grow.”

To grow, the answer lies in ‘working together,’ as Robyn Stuart continues. “You don’t have to shut yourself off to the disaster: we need to be sympathetic and we need to care about each other: we need to work with each other.”

In confidence of a world that’s already making changes, she adds “There are so many amazing solutions out there. We aren’t tightening our belts. We are not cutting back – we are going beyond this.”

With captivating use of visual media, and a powerful message, (No) Living Room is spellbinding from beginning to end. And, unlike Hollywood, the story really does have two bona fide ‘possible endings’.

 

Zoo, 19-24, 26-30 Aug, 19:25, £7.50 (£5.00)

http://www.zoofestival.co.uk