Rating [rating=2]
Reviewed by Tony Peters
Memories are what shape us and make us what we are. So how would you cope with severe memory loss, where every day was a new experience? And if you had to choose just one memory to hang on to, what would it be?
This is the intriguing question posed in this experimental piece by Awkward City that uses conventional theatre mixed with video technology and inventive sound design to tell the story of a woman struggling to make sense of her fractured life.
Devised following extensive research into acute memory loss, this is a work that holds the attention over its relatively short sixty-minute length, but that I didn’t find particularly accessible. I wanted to know more about what had brought this person to this place and time. Frankly, I was a little confused by some of it and felt that the use of video was often intrusive and had little relevance. But then perhaps the fragmented nature of the piece was the whole point — a demonstration of this woman’s confused world
Original use is made of the minimal scenery, with technicians included as part of the action while still retaining a distance from the main narrative — like ghostly figures at the edge of this woman’s consciousness.
Personally I can’t say that Dissolve was a total success, but it’s an interesting if rather self-indulgent idea.
Conceived by Awkward City
Director Amy Lewis
Ensemble:
Carla Lewis
Rosa Torr
Amy Lewis
Dissolve plays at The New Diorama Theatre until Saturday. For more information click here