Wendy Houston’s Pact with Pointlessness was cute and chaotic; a convergence of theatre and contemporary dance with a dash of stand-up comedy.
A clownish character dreams of luxury holidays whilst deconstructing each of her dances and fighting to remain in control of the stage space.
Houston staged a very modern world, full of computer messages and mobile phone bleeps all of which seem intent on interrupting her connection with the audience.
Whilst she stages an obsession with escape, the technological glitches root her to the stage.
The process of staging the alienation and removal of self in the modern world is tricky within such a concrete and immediate medium as the theatre, however Houston’s simplicity allowed these themes to shine through.
Her careful use of comedy and multimedia created a fondness in the audience for her as a performer.
A higher quality design aesthetic in the projected film would elevate these ideas – at times the text was difficult to read.
Her performance persona was cheeky and watchable, the sparseness of Pact with Pointlessness demonstrating her ease in front of an audience, who were expertly taken through a gentle narrative arc with a combination of movement sequences and quickly delivered text.
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