The Factory @ Southside Zoo, 3-25 Sep
Bristol-based physical theatre gets political and aggressive. Another hit from the Southside Zoo.
'Born. Consume. Be silent. Die.' This rather disturbing message opens the performance of Precarious company who fill the stage with a unique fusion of physical dance theatre and multimedia. Provocative and touching, The Factory is a dynamic commentary on the contemporary culture of consumerism.
The dancer’s unusual mechanical broken movement evokes images of imprisonment and limitation of human freedom within the consumerist world. The message is even stronger – we are reduced to nothing more than produce that can be packed in bags and sold. The execution of this company’s original ideas is excellent too. Not only do they use the monochrome stage set in an infinite number of constellations, but they are able to unfold the harsh industrial reality with only a handful of powerful dance sequences.
It is in the brevity of movement and the spectacular use of stage installation and multimedia that the success of this challenging performance lies. Precarious is definitely a risk-taking company, but ultimately they know how to do theatre well, and they deliver.