Review by Kate Gaul
Gabriela Flarys is a London-based Brazilian actress, dancer, teacher and writer, investigating the poetical and humorous interplay between movement and text through the body. Her production, “Deluge”(directed by Andrea Maciel) explores the experience of loss, based on interviews with people that have struggled to come to terms with the unexpected appearance of the end of things. After having done over 40 interviews from a social media callout, the show emerged. Asking questions about how we deal with loss and who we are in the wake of loss, it’s set in a leaky house; as a woman tries to contain the overflow of her thoughts in the wake of her relationship ending, the leaks grow bigger and the water around her rises. Described as “A ‘dramedy’ which fuses theatre and comedy with physicality, text, clowning, original music and projection, this one-woman show reflects on grief, loss and letting go to fully embrace the future.” It’s a promising argument that does not develop.
What drives the central narrative is a relationship break down and sudden dumping and the overwhelming deluge of thoughts that then flood the house a woman had shared with her partner. She is left alone. There are remnants of the man everywhere in the physical space, as well as within her body. It is irritating that the entire show focuses on the effect of the man who has abandoned his partner. It’s a flimsy hook that quickly goes no-where and strangely all we ever hear about is this absent man.
Dressed in white pants and what looks like part of a sports chest protector (possibly for fencing?) all stained in what we learn is red jam. The boyfriend is a jam maker. Flarys is at her best when expressing ideas through movement – the piece wants to touch on ideas for which we find language difficult. She is an elegant and powerful mover. She slides down a stepladder that entraps her several times or carries it on her back. I think the ladder is the embodiment of loss. The piece is interspersed with songs or snippets of songs played on an on-stage keyboard – not great. I could buy that they might be character driven but the music is poor and the singing off key. There is also a video element” some text, pictures of walls leaking sticky jam like a mould or fungus, rising water.
It is interesting to meditate on how we never really know whether we are living at the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end until an end hits us, but this piece doesn’t land philosophically or emotionally, and the bland story has me asking “who cares”.
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