REVIEW: Placebo - The Lowry Theatre, Salford.

The Clod Ensemble have been creating performances for the last two decades but this was my first experience of them in person. Suzie Willson (Director) and Paul Clark (Music) are very well known for producing original pieces of work that evolve over a number of years but this was the world premiere of Placebo, a performance that deals with the subject of the Placebo Effect.

The Placebo Effect is a remarkable phenomenon in which a fake treatment is administered to treat a patient’s condition and this improves their condition simply because the person has the expectation that it will be helpful – the key element is the fact that the patient does not know they are being given a placebo and therefore they have the same expectation as someone receiving a proven medical treatment. Many studies have successfully proven that the Placebo Effect exists.

This subject matter was portrayed through a series of experiments where the audience were invited to think about how each of them made them feel – many of the experiments being performed several times in a slightly different way and the question being asked of what was real and what was fake.

The key to what the Clod Ensemble have created here is the use of many different mediums to spark the senses of the audience – seven dancers that we see constantly on stage performing the experiments using contemporary dance, mixed with bright lights flashing in our eyes to separate the different stages of each experiment and the clear influence of music with many different styles being used to depict the moods of each section.

One of the experiments that stood out for me was the same dance movements performed four times in exactly the same way visually, the only difference being the music that accompanied each repetition. I was absolutely amazed at how different my interpretation was for each of them – such a captivating demonstration.

There is a narrative used across a number of the experiences in the show from Doctor Bruce Moseley, a surgeon from Houston in Texas USA, who was behind one of the most recent well known placebo experiments. A number of patients with severe knee arthritis were given fake surgery which involved opening them up but performing no actual surgery – with other patients being given the actual surgery. Every person who was part of experiment reported significantly improved symptoms with many of the placebo surgery patients giving the most positive feedback. The use of these quotes directly from Doctor Moseley and several of the placebo patients was inspired – it reinforced the realism of the subject and gave additional dramatic effect in this performance.

My only criticism of the whole event comes in the penultimate section where I feel the things become a little confused. There is a monologue performed entitled “My Lonely Lungs” which does not seem to fit very well with the rest of the performance but this did not by any means alter my overall impression.

Placebo is an hour long thought-provoking performance which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone, whether you are a fan of contemporary dance or not – this performance is so much more than just dance.

Reviewer – John Fish
on – 11/10/18