With a masterful combination of mask, mime and music, Theatre Ad Infinitum conjures the painful moment when a devoted old couple is divided by death.
Without words, actors George Mann and Deborah Pugh explore the aftermath of loss with acute observations of body language and memory. In a final act of love, the deceased partner returns, in spirit, in an attempt to free her surviving soul mate from the grip of nostalgia – a highly sensitive piece that left some in the audience wet-faced by the end.
Actor and musician Sophie Crawford added greatly to the atmosphere with some mesmeric playing and special effects on the accordion, adding her own highly original scat singing style throughout. Crawford’s instrument doubled as a ticking clock, the thud of flashback explosions in WWII, and with enormous effect at times, the very breath of the protagonists.
Mann and Pugh have tangible chemistry on stage. They appear to live the roles rather than perform them. Like stars from silent movies, their body language and facial expressions (when away from their masks) more than make up for a lack of spoken word.
Now embarking on a new 16-night UK tour, Translunar Paradise has travelled widely since its inception in 2011, including recently in China. The understanding, anticipation and empathy gained from multiple performances were very evident in tonight’s show. There was impeccable timing between all three on stage, especially when Mann and Pugh explored the couple’s past lives through dance and physical theatre, while Crawford lent essential support with an occasional free pair of hands.
Though the predominant emotion expressed throughout was one of sadness, there was light relief in sections where the couple ‘dropped’ their old age masks to enact flashback scenarios from their more joyous passionate earlier lives, inspired by the surviving partner’s perusal of memorabilia. There was drama too in the reliving of their past crises – the loss of a baby, physical and mental injury from active service during the war. Although most of the mimed passages were straightforward to follow, there were moments that were harder to decipher and times where actions appeared occasionally repetitive. As a single act performed over 75 minutes, Translunar could have been sharpened still with a light edit.
The poignant exchanges between the bereaved husband and the spirit of his deceased wife were imaginatively realised with some extraordinary choreography involving the actors’ animation of the masks themselves. One moment a mask would adorn a physical face, the next it would be held aloft and alone, seeming to render its owner invisible. As a ghostly device it was highly effective. Mann and Pugh always managed to sustain their energy throughout this performance – almost physically diving into the roles their masks demanded of them. A predominantly young audience was on its feet in appreciation at the conclusion. ★★★★☆ Simon Bishop 24th January 2018
