F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out)

Our dedicated reviewer Jeremy Ulster has been covering the event and sends these reports, in reverse order.

DAY THREE  5th July

SOMEONE LOVES YOU DRIVE WITH CARE

Someone Loves You Drive With Care is a one-man performance that combines art, magic and storytelling. Tom Cassani talks about life, lies and fears today in a style not unlike a Yorgos Lanthimos film (The Lobster, Killing of a Sacred Deer). The piece is somewhat abstract and doesn’t follow a linear plot, but instead jumps between ponderings and minor audience interactions.

As a performer, Cassani commands the space with his strong presence. Using tension effectively he makes each and every moment draw you in. His disturbing tricks involving a nail, a hook and a trap are impressive on their own, but with his magnificent and methodical performance they become a wholly intense experience.

Every weird and wacky prop has a place in the show, whether as a reference to the text or as a part of the show itself. Thanks to the puzzling yet accessible script, no matter how weird it gets, it is never a challenge to follow. Combined with an assortment of microphones and a black, minimalistic set, it sets the uncomfortable tone well, while also allowing it to be diffused quickly when needs be.

Cassani’s brave decisions help make this a masterful one-man show. With a great script, wonderful delivery and incredible tricks, I would enjoy watching it once again, even though there would be no surprises this time round. For me this is the best show I’ve seen at the festival, and I look forward to his next piece.   ★★★★★

VIOLENT EVENT

The twentieth-century French dramatist Antonin Artaud, fifty years after its inception, developed The Theatre of Cruelty: a genre of theatre that uses a language of sounds, movements, lighting and unusual set to shock the audience. Violent Event is exactly that. The ensemble of five perform acts of violence on each other for thirty minutes, with occasional intermissions of speech.

As an Artaud-style piece it is very effective. None of this is easy to watch, particularly as not all the on-stage violence was faked. I’ve never seen someone being waterboarded before, but now I have. Twice. Neither time was pleasant, even though there were some precautions in place (I hope) to protect the actors. This feeling of discomfort was maintained for the full thirty minute duration.

Frustratingly, that is all the piece has to offer. There are hints towards a social commentary, but any such hints are so vague and infrequent that it’s difficult to understand what the commentary is. Nothing happens, nothing changes, it is merely perpetual violence. With a greater degree of focus it could have been more effective. Instead it becomes thirty minutes of torture porn in an elaborately unelaborate set.

Each performer is clearly committed to the work they’ve created, and I don’t think it should be dismissed entirely. After some revision, this could be a disconcerting story about modern warfare for example. Watching comedy for comedy’s sake it one thing, but watching pain for pain’s sake is something best left to the masochists.   ★★☆☆☆

DAY TWO  4th July

LET’S DANCE

Let’s Dance is a tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of contemporary dance by Czech company VerTeDance. Starting with a narrator and an abstract performance, the piece looks for an explanation behind contemporary dance, and how it can be rationalised as more than just chaotic movements. Mixed with footage from the uncut version of the show, this thirty minute abridged version looks to capture the essence of the original without merely cutting out large chunks.

Each movement from the ensemble is precise and controlled in a truly captivating way. You can’t help but marvel at the seemingly superhuman actions and lightning fast spontaneity they bring to the performance. Whether dancing or storytelling, no one is a weak link as every movement feels justified. Perhaps this comes with the honesty that comes through each story they tell.

It’s unfortunate that the piece has to be thirty minutes long, as it meant for an abrupt finish to an excellent piece. This didn’t ruin it by any means, but it did leave me wanting to see the rest of this story. Performing as they do, VerTeDance are immensely watchable and clearly passionate about what they do. Having had this small taster, I hope they have more performances to bring to the UK.  ★★★★☆

THREE ROOMS

Three Rooms takes place in Paris, Istanbul and Birmingham simultaneously thanks to temperamental internet connections and Skype. The piece is a response to the performers’ inability to travel to rehearsals or performances when the company’s play was originally commissioned two years ago. Through this Skype call we learn about the lives of those involved in the piece as well as seeing small excerpts of the original play.

This is a very difficult piece to review because it’s very unclear what worked and what didn’t. The moments when the internet dropped out, or having someone replaced due to illness, felt almost scripted – although judging by some photos from previous performances this might not be the case. Regardless, it was billed as a play but felt more like an interview that lost any momentum as soon as any issues came up.

The concept behind Three Rooms is fascinating, but the execution lets it down. Perhaps if everything went to plan there would be something to take away from this piece, but sadly it went nowhere and didn’t get a chance to say anything. Using pre-recorded video might be the only short-term solution until the internet in Turkey improves. I do genuinely believe this piece has potential, but it needs to get over its technical problems to reach it.   ★★☆☆☆

F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out)

F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out) is a Spanish piece (performed entirely in Spanish) about the dangerous role social media has in modern life. Using abstract imagery and an iPhone camera, the cast of four convey the dark side of this technology in a disturbing way that exposes our over-reliance on the internet in everyday life.

Filled with nudity, blood and vomit, this is definitely a piece of in-yer-face theatre. While it feels somewhat excessive, it does strengthen the brutality Colectivo Fango want the audience to experience. There is never an unwatchable moment, but it is not pleasant to sit through. Then again, it’s difficult to focus on the action of the play for too long as your attention is constantly shifting to the subtitles projected at the back of the stage.

This is another piece that feels like it would have benefited from a longer runtime. Going from people doing anything for likes and followers to blaming every social media user for the war in Syria is quite a jump. While the message here is strong and important, these enormous leaps in scale make it hard to follow. With an hour to play with, there would be enough time to gradually reach this point in a more persuasive manner.  ★★★☆☆

DAY ONE  3rd July

Revolt Athens

Revolt Athens is an art performance piece by ODC Ensemble, and focuses on how tourists view Greece in comparison to the harsh realities. It is very much a state of the nation play and is told through music, movement, and live camera work and visual effects. While there is no specific narrative, it does give a vivid snapshot of modern day Greece and its future.

Although there is little subtly here, Revolt Athens is an incredibly moving and passionate piece. Whether the focus is on a dystopian model of Athens, or on the performers themselves, you start to get a sense of how brutal life in Greece must be, and how few people are aware of this because of the non-existent media coverage. Being confronted by the facts and figures makes even more shocking the choice made by the press to ignore this crisis.

The evocative performances from the ensemble added more strength to their message, especially when combined with the creative and abstract cinematography from the live camera feed. While other moments, such as audience interaction, felt unnecessary, the camera added so much to the piece. Seeing real footage from incidents in Greece blended with the live performance brought more out of what was being told.

Revolt Athens was a very strong opener for BE Festival this year, a shorter version of which won 2017’s festival. With a little more polish, this piece could easily do a UK tour, albeit a less commercial one. It is an incredibly moving piece and it is a reminder of how easily our perception of the world is affected by the media.  ★★★★☆

P Project

Ivo Dimchev’s P Project is quite simply something completely different. Having received a grant from an arts council for a piece about “five-hundred different pussies”, Ivo has some money spare and decides to use it to pay audience members to create an art performance with him. Starting out with poetry written by the audience, which he will sing and play piano to live, each scene becomes more wacky and elaborate.

While it does rely heavily on the audience, Ivo has created something phenomenally engaging. It isn’t always clever, but it’s certainly hilarious. If you wanted to, you could say it’s an analysis of the human condition and how we have a Pavlovian response to the offer of money in exchange for humiliation, but I’d argue that would be overthinking it.

Musically, Ivo is very talented and manages to combine his lyrical gymnastics with comedic delivery. His on stage persona supports this, as his relaxed confidence makes what he says even funnier. I’m certainly glad that he overran as it allowed more time for his provocative and exciting scenes. Even the most mundane moments were monumentally funny and had the audience in stitches.

It may not have been billed as stand-up comedy, but it certainly feels like a more artistic comedy routine. I’m dubious as to how much of it is art and how much is merely mucking about on stage, but that’s completely irrelevant. The P Project is magnificent and certainly worth watching, maybe even twice. Each night will be different, so there’s no knowing what will happen next time.   ★★★★☆