Mirror Mirror, under the umbrella of Stalker company (David Clarkson is one of the artistic directors) has been developed over several years of collaboration, especially between Clarkson and Dean Walsh, but also involving a number of international artists.
Mirror Mirror is the third in a triptych of works that Clarkson has made that explore notions of ending. The first, Four Riders‘, looked at the end of the world according to the Bible’s Revelations; the second, Red examined the end of the world as predicted by Western science. Mirror Mirror, meanwhile, explores personal notions of ending – how personal identity isn’t fixed and static but changes spread over time and space. Ancestries, genetics, family history, information stored in our body, in the environment surrounding us all contribute to our sense of personal identity. How do we view the end of this identity? Haunted by the ghosts of his ancestors and Celtic folklore Mirror Mirror was inspired by an eerie déjà -vu Clarkson experienced while on a hillside in Ireland, linking him to his great and great-great grandmothers. It has become what Clarkson describes as ‘ a meditation on death in its multi-faceted forms’.
The two performers, Clarkson and Walsh, appear to be twins – bald, sleek, tautly muscled, and clad only in black trunks. At the back of the set there is a semi-opaque plastic curtain that the performers at times vanish behind (‘vanishing behind the veil ‘?).
It is a dazzling, breathlessly enthralling combination of aerialist/physical theatre work and dance. The two suspend themselves in harnesses over a shallow pool of water. At times they mirror each other in their movements, in other sections it is more a thoughtful dialogue (on death? rebirth?). There are meditative, reflective solos (hanging upside down over the surface of the water for parts of it) and some incredible sequences where they are flying angels – at times flying into the audience, others hovering over the water. Supported by the slings, they walk on their hands and their fingertips brush the shallow water. For some moments they hang in the foetal position in mid-air before meeting in a sculptural fusion of physical theatre and dance. In one section one of the performers twists the harness slings so that he appears to be partially strangling himself and walks on high demi pointe. At times the choreography is Butoh inspired, at others very Contemporary with angular ‘dying swan’ arm movements. The opening scene was intriguing with one performer preventing the other from moving/finishing a choreographic phrase and there were delightful’ transfers of weight’ sequences. In one section they move like lizards and in another they are sleekly feline. Kassandra Bossell’s fragile sculptures of segmented body parts evoke haunted ghosts or the armour of the past that in one section spookily rise and are worn by the performers.
An engrossing, totally mesmerizing show.
Mirror Mirror: Riverside Theatre
Wed 7 Oct 2009 7:30PM
Thu 8 Oct 2009 7:30PM
Fri 9 Oct 2009 7:30PM
Sat 10 Oct 2009 7:30PM
Running time: an hour
