21 – 24 April
It is no coincidence to me that it’s The Impermanence Dance Company that presents The Rest Of Our Lives at the Mount Without to a Bristol audience. Creative collaborations with intelligent conversations, curiosity and shared audience experience are what they are about.
Jo Fong, a dancer who began her career with the Rambert Dance Company, (the Uk’s oldest contemporary company), and with the glorious DV8 Physical Theatre, partners here with William Orange, a clown performer who worked with NoFit State Circus. Together they combine years of experience, skills and passion.
The space in the huge church is cleverly staged. The audience is seated in a horseshoe plan that invites intimacy from the beginning. As we come in we are given raffle tickets, the lighting is subtle at this point, creating a warm ambience. The Information display system that is used throughout the piece reminds us of travelling – bus and train information. The writing on a screen asks questions or makes statements – “Will It Hurt?”, “The Struggle Is Real”, “Take A Moment,” Take Two”. Now it tells us – “I’m Not Ready”.
The Rest Of Our Lives aims to be a reflection on the realities of aging. Ageing well is relevant as most of us are living longer nowadays. Is anyone ready for ageing? We start this journey as a conversation with Fong and Orange. It is one that is friendly and inviting; we are on board.
We set off in a high-octane mode with the 1990’s disco floor filler track, Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. In this piece the information display and soundtrack do a lot of work for them moving the sketches smoothly along. Both Fong and Orange operate the sound and information display and this engages us with their commitment to the conversation.
Fong and Orange give us their all, tender, raw and refined; it would be hard not to empathise with them. Chairs are used by both and the contrast of Fong’s sometimes delicate movements and gestures with Orange’s astonishing use of them can be remarkable. At one point he uses a chair as a horse might, with the bit between its teeth. Fong’s face is wonderfully expressive, contorting and questioning and she engages the audience with eye contact. Whilst Orange clowns, he also moves lithely when required. It is a wonderful collaboration.
This piece is a reminder that this is what life is – a fast-paced experience with moments of stillness. The constant question of our inevitable ageing and our bodies’ limitations shown here by obvious puffing exertion may be a little awkward at times. But the joy of masterfully curated moments allows the audience to believe in their positivity.
Towards the end of the 80 minutes, Fong states ‘I’m post-Menopausal’, but she doesn’t elaborate at that point. It is a potent moment then when Fong changes from her day frock into her gold disco dress and we are lifted with her. She invites the audience to play ping pong across the space. The balls gradually cover the floor. She dances, blindfolded with Orange, who is now wearing a velvet jacket, she then dances alone, tentatively. Unmasked, she asks a female audience member to dance with her, they hug then dance. She links her to other women who dance together. It is brave and skilfully done – Fong and Orange play, then invite us to join them in the fun, an invitation only within the safe space they have created here. As I Feel Love belts out who can resist? Most of the audience fill the floor, followed as it is by Beyonce’s Halo – we feel the warmth.
Catch this show if you can. Two amazing performers use their honed craft to pull you into their world, and you will be glad you have inhabited it, been part of the conversation, the positivity, the struggle. You will certainly come out with a warm glow that is welcome in these times. It may well resonate with us for the ‘rest of our lives’.
Peggy Ralph, 22 April 2026
Photography credit: Craig Kirkwood
