From the press release: “The world is dark and flooded. It could be an unknown planet or a black hole. Materials shine and reflect each other, and effects of transparency create illusions and blur our vision. And the flowing water keeps throwing little bolts of lightning… In the middle, a man. He seems to be working to organise, maintain, and contain… but what? Then it’s the accident: a visitor intruding from below upsets this unknowable organisation. There ensue turmoil, tenderness, even cruelty. “It’s first and foremost the story of an ‘Annunciation,’ in a way, that of an angel or a devil.” With this duo which quickly turns into a duel, Dimitris Papaioannou, accompanied by Šuka Horn, plumbs the depths of reality and flirts with the codes of science-fiction and horror. “The space in front of us could be post-apocalyptic or a space of beginnings: the beginning of life, the apparition of desire…” By turning his show Ink into a nightmarish manhunt, the choreographer and plastic artist explores the question of the complexity of equilibriums and of the suffering to which the human subconscious exposes us. Are we always fleeing before ourselves?”
The show will start their overseas show in February, starting in Italy. For those readers who are in these countries, go see this show. I’m sure it’s another masterpiece. No schedule yet for US tour.
Saw it in Montreal this weekend. Papaioannou is a genius, but this show doesn’t rise to the level of his previous works. The visual effects are spare and far less arresting than in shows such as “The Great Tamer” and “Transverse Orientation,” and there are only two performers–both male, with one fully clothed the entire time. Long stretches of the show are repetitive and stagnant, like the water-covered rectangles covering the stage floor. Sadly, this work feels underdeveloped; it never comes close to reaching the level of tension-and-release or dreamlike wonder that we’ve seen from Papaioannou before. I do not recommend it. N.B.: Bring a poncho if you happen to be seated in the front row.
Thanks for the report. How was the nudity from Suka Horn?
A Little Life in the UK has confirmed frontals from James Norton and Luke Thompson