Children sit patiently on the floor, staring at the stage with its piano and screen. Will Pickvance arrives to charm and delight with his whimsical tale of childhood longing for a spaceship from Father Christmas. However, the spaceship wouldn’t fit on the sleigh and so he received a piano instead.
Pickvance has a gently humorous narrative style. His journey around the anatomy of the piano allows him to remove part of the casing, demonstrating his understanding of the fascination of seeing the inner workings of the instrument as it plays. The insides of the upright piano guide an exploration of its evolution, introducing us to the ‘grumpy composers’ who drove the changes over time. Illustrations of Bach and his wig, in a cave with an early ‘cave piano’ are accompanied by demonstrations of Bach’s musical style, analysing and deconstructing the complex patterns. More history, and a language lesson, lead us to the pianoforte and Beethoven’s powerful dynamics. A final leap forward to a non-grumpy composer, Fats Waller, has Pickvance’s fingers flying across the keys, adults shaking their shoulders and children banging the floor while their mouths hang open in astonishment.
Pickvance does play the piano very, very well. His performance has a thoughtful structure, the narrative arc allowing him to present the cleverness of Bach, the rapture of Beethoven and the sublime freedom of improvisation a la Waller. The screen images assist him to present information in an inclusive way for all, from toddlers to teenagers.
The pace of the show is riveting, with Pickvance playing incidental music while he speaks, turning to make eye contact with each child sitting on the floor at the front, as well as gesturing out into the seating for bigger kids and grown-ups. He doesn’t put the music on a pedestal, referring to the boring nature of technical practice and eliciting information from young musicians.
Pickvance copes well with interruptions from children, never putting the juvenile heckling aside cruelly, but works criticisms from the floor into his show. Youngsters respond to his gentle jokes and while adult asides are made it is never at the expense of the younger audience. While it is very hard and important to avoid condescending to children, Pickvance’s sincerity and skill win everyone over in equal measure.
Despite the heat of the afternoon in a spiegeltent, sweat dripping down Pickvance’s nose as he plays, none of the children complain or look bored for the whole hour. His silly whimsical fancies about flying to the moon on a piano seem to come true at the end, with an impressive fantastic finale that captivates everyone.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Anatomy of the Piano (for Beginners)
Presented by Flash in the Can
Performed by Will Pickvance
De Parel Spiegeltent, Urban Orchard, Perth Cultural Centre
14-15 February 2015
Part of FringeWorld 2015
