Music Theatre Wales in co-production with National Dance Company Wales present Pascal Dusapin’s contemporary dance-opera, Passion. This production is created in collaboration with London Sinfonietta and EXAUDI. It is performed in a newly commissioned English translation by Amanda Holden.
This is a dance opera that puts the voice and body to the test. Dusapin dissects the pain and passion of two lovers who are separated to differing worlds. It is based on the myth of Orpheus, but with a twist: she is the one who wants to be followed. Mixed with the rather evocative sounds of harpsichord and Arabic Oud, the composer’s kaleidoscopic, ever-changing, and fragmented score is performed by the London Sinfonietta.
An awful accident results in a woman dead from a snake-bite and her newly-wed husband alone and utterly devastated. He wants her back and will do anything to make this happen, but she has gone to a new place. As she begins to accept her new circumstance, he reaches out for her, crossing unknown boundaries. Both want to be reunited, however she understands that she can never return and that the only way to be together again is for him to follow her.
Writing about each production element at a time, I’ll start with the set and lighting. The visual elements were hypnotic, haunting, and aesthetically stunning. One lonesome ladder was prominently centre stage, perhaps this was the connection between the two worlds? A “sunlight” coloured large curtain was effectively utilised in some of the choreography - enhancing the restrictive style of the movements. The lingering and gradually-moving white light was like a window to life; to Earth, where the woman once lived.
For those in the audience who may have wanted the music to be melodically lush and tuneful, Dusapin’s score was intentionally far from it. Instead you heard an assemblage of melodic ideas in an atonal score with dissonant harmonies. The musical style went hand in hand with the darker themes at play. For me though, there was too much of a thin texture throughout, not enough variation. The translated lyrics were overly simplistic, for example: “I am frightened”, “I see you”, and “I hear you”. There was no actual discourse between the two characters. I understand why because they were both apart from one another, but that resulted in the audience not really knowing who the characters were. If I hadn’t had read the plot overview, I wouldn’t have been so sure what was going on.
All of the singers gave nuanced and precise performances. Having to sing the dissonant harmonies and constantly sing at random pitches must have been hard work. There was lovely variation in dynamics as well. However, the same criticism cannot be given to the acting of the characters. Unfortunately, the actors who played the man and the woman gave performances which were over-exaggerated and melodramatic. Perhaps, they were attempting to adhere to a certain company performance style, but it didn’t pay off. Sadly, the falsity in the acting was all too evident, which made it difficult to engage with the performance.
With regards to the dancing, there were a plethora of effective motifs pertaining to the idea of restriction and release, as well as the various aspects of romantic love. Sometimes though, a lot of action was happening at once and I struggled to decide where to look. For the most part, the movement was slow, elegant, and considered. This worked for a while, but with no transparent variation in pace, the performance became rather sluggish after a while. But, the fusion of contemporary dance and physical theatre did build up a unique language of movement.
Verdict: Passion was visually profound, the singing and dancing was nuanced and precise. Unfortunately, the acting, elementary lyrics, and overall stagnant nature of the production affected its success.
Reviewer – Sam Loweon – 6/11/18
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