.jpg)
Michael Cox reviews Vanishing Point's 'moving, thought-provoking and highly intelligent' production.
Vanishing Point’s latest production Tomorrow (****) is a theatrical poem: full of beauty, metaphor and insight but delicate to the touch.
More of a meditation on elderly life than it is about character or plot, the production focuses on a group of people in a residential home and the staff who care for them. Life for these people can be tough: thoughts of past events come to the residents but fade before they can be coherently comprehended, and the staff—all but helpless at times—give reassuring promises of doing things ‘tomorrow’ when confusion sometimes strikes.
It’s a production that would be easy to dissect, even perhaps find fault with, if one were inclined to judge merely by conventional plot and character. Not much ‘happens’ in the 75-minute running time, and many of the characters are but shadows when it comes to depth. But delve deeper and a rich emotional vein is struck. With its excellent ensemble and production design, the production is a passionate tapestry that packs many emotional punches.
Much of this comes down to the production values. The company play their roles with enough warmth to make them easy to empathise with, and the masks that the young company use to make themselves ‘old’ are convincing enough; yet it is their metaphoric use of young souls trapped by old age that makes the effect work best—heightened by the presence of kids who occasionally walk around them while playing. Much of the design, particularly the lighting and sound, are easy to marvel at and add further poetic texture.
Matthew Lenton’s production, with dramaturgical assistance by Pamela Carter, is an absolute winner. It lingers long after the final curtain with beautiful and touching moments that ring true. Moving, thought-provoking and highly intelligent, it is easily one of the year’s cultural highlights.
Tomorrow previously touring England and Brazil and performed at the Tramway. Its current run has completed.
RSS