A Year in Shadows: Vol 39

 

It was another full set of 52 covers in 2023, featuring the following films in order: A Man Called Otto, M3gan, The Son, The Fabelmans, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Magic Mike's Last Dance, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Creed III, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, John Wick: Chapter 4, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, Air, Renfield, Chevalier, Big George Foreman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, Book Club: The Next Chapter, Fast X, The Little Mermaid, Reality, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, The Flash, No Hard Feelings, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Elemental, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Barbie, Oppenheimer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Gran Turismo, Blue Beetle, Scrapper, Passages, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, A Haunting in Venice, Expend4bles, The Creator, The ExorcistL Believer, May December, Trolls Band Together, Typist Artist Pirate King, Priscilla, The Marvels, Saltburn, Napoleon, Candy Cane Lane, Wonka, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, Maestro and The Color Purple, plus the Bafta and Oscar covers.

Note that full-size versions of these covers can be found in posts that were made here each week throughout the year.

Trivia alert!

Most crowded: There are more than 25 chickens for Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, and 11 people for A Haunting in Venice.

On multiple covers: Only Michelle Rodriguez and Jonathan Majors appear on two covers, always alongside costars. Three others appear twice, but the second time is as an animated character they voice: Bradley Cooper (raccoon), Salma Hayek (cat) and Michelle Yeoh (bird). 

Getting one cover all to themselves: Halle Bailey, Fantasia Barrino, Timothee Chalamet, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Khris Davis, Amie Donald, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Kelvin Harrison, Barry Keoghan, Jimmy Kimmel, Gabriel LaBelle, Zachary Levi, Emma Mackey, Xolo Mariduena, Cillian Murphy, Eddie Murphy, Joaquin Phoenix, Keanu Reeves and Sydney Sweeney.

Sharing a cover with their costars: Micah Abbey, Candice Bergen, Orlando Bloom, Kenneth Branagh, Jordana Brewster, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Shamon Brown Jr, Ellen Burstyn, Nicolas Cage, Sasha Calle, Lola Campbell, Nicolas Cantu, George Cobell, John Corbett, Camille Cottin, Harris Dickinson, Vin Diesel, Monica Dolan, Jamie Dornan, Jacob Elordi, Nathalie Emmanuel, Adele Exarchopoulos, Andrew Barth Feldman, Tina Fey, Dominique Fishback, Jane Fonda, Megan Fox, Tyrese Gibson, Ryan Gosling, Hugh Grant, David Harbour, Jude Hill, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Jackman, Michael B Jordan, Elias Kacavas, Elena Kampouris, Sung Kang, Diane Keaton, Michael Keaton, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Brie Larson, Jennifer Lawrence, Sophia Lillis, Evangeline Lily, Kelly Macdonald, Archie Madekwe, Louis Mandylor, Andrea Martin, Ezra Miller, Julianne Moore, Carey Mulligan, Brady Noon, Leslie Odom Jr, Rege-Jean Page, Teyonah Parris, Chris Pine, Natalie Portman, Anthony Ramos, Kelly Reilly, Margot Robbie, Franz Rogowski, Paul Rudd, Riccardo Scamarcio, Justice Smith, Cailee Spaeny, Mary Steenburgen, Channing Tatum, Levy Tran, Nia Vardalos, Iman Vellani, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, John David Washington and Ben Whishaw.

Appearing once as an animated character they voice: Mamoudou Athie (water), Antonio Banderas (cat), Camila Cabello (troll), Peter Cullen (robot), Pete Davidson (car), Anna Kendrick (troll), Liza Koshy (robot), Leah Lewis (fire), Thandiwe Newton (chicken), Ron Perlman (gorilla), Bella Ramsey (chicken) and, David Sobolov (rhino). Meanwhile, the cat alongside Tom Hanks on the very first cover seems to be the only actual animal.

And here are four drafts that weren't used: The first is an alternate version for Creed III. Across the Spider-Verse and Asteroid City were anticipated in June but usurped by other films due to late screenings. And The Bikeriders was pulled from its release date and moved into 2024, so this cover may turn up next year.  

The Best of 2022: 43rd Shadows Awards

The year-end ritual is complete, as I compile my lists of the best of the year. This post is merely a preview - there is so much more on the website if you dare! Meanwhile, my voting continues in various awards (Golden Globes, London Critics, Online Critics, Galeca Dorian Awards), bearing only passing resemblance to these lists due to eligibility rules. And I'll add my usual Critical Week note below...

BEST FILM:

1. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
2. Past Lives (Celine Song)
3. Joyland (Saim Sadiq)
4. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
5. Reality (Tina Satter)
6. Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
7. The First Slam Dunk (Takehiko Inoue)
8. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
9. Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
10. Barbie (Greta Gerwig)

DIRECTOR:

1. Celine Song - Past Lives
2. Tina Satter - Reality
3. Andrew Haigh - All of Us Strangers
4. Jonathan Glazer - The Zone of Interest
5. JA Bayona - Society of the Snow

SCREENWRITER:

1. Celine Song - Past Lives
2. Andrew Haigh - All of Us Strangers
3. Saim Sadiq - Joyland
4. Molly Manning Walker - How to Have Sex
5. Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach - Barbie

ACTRESS:

1. Sandra Huller - ​​Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest
2. Emma Stone - Poor Things
3. Sydney Sweeney - Reality
4. Teyana Taylor - A Thousand and One
5. Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon

ACTOR:

1. Ali Junejo - Joyland
2. Andrew Scott - All of Us Strangers
3. Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer
4. Koji Yakusho - Perfect Days
5. Colman Domingo - Rustin, The Color Purple

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

1. Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers, A Little White Lie, Rustin
2. Rosamund Pike - Saltburn
3. Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple
4. Jodie Foster - Nyad
5. Claire Foy - All of Us Strangers

SUPPORTING ACTOR:

1. Paul Mescal - All of Us Strangers, Foe, God's Creatures, Carmen
2. Robert Downey Jr - Oppenheimer
3. Mark Ruffalo - Poor Things
4. Alessandro Borghi - The Eight Mountains
5. Aaron Pierre - Brother, Foe

WORST FILM:

1. Expend4bles (Scott Waugh)
2. Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (Rhys Frake-Waterfield)
3. Hunt Club (Elizabeth Blake Thomas)
4. Haunted Mansion (Justin Simien)
5. Assassin Club (Camille Delamarre)

TV SERIES:

1. The Bear (FX)
2. Lessons in Chemistry (Apple)
3. Ted Lasso (Apple)
4. Dave (FX)
5. Succession (HBO)

POP SINGLE:

1. People Pleaser - Cat Burns
2. Flowers - Miley Cyrus
3. Heaven - Niall Horan
4. Padam Padam - Kylie
5. Chemical - Post Malone

C R I T I C A L  W E E K : 
Everything’s new

I've been in catch-up mode, but have limited my viewing, preferring to take a bit of time off for a change. Watching movies is work for me! But I caught up with Wim Wender's wonderful drama Perfect Days, a pointed observation about life through the eyes of a hugely likeable Japanese toilet cleaner. And then there was Franz Rogowski giving another staggering performance in the thoughtful French drama Disco Boy, Ferzan Ozpetek's nostalgic and involving personal drama Nuovo Olimpo, the familiar but effective immigrant romance Norwegian Dream and two very strong docs: Beyond Utopia, a riveting look at a pastor who helps people escape from the North Korea, and 20 Days in Mariupol, a devastating account of Russia's horrific siege on the Ukrainian port city.

This coming week I will continue catching up with films for voting purposes, because there are still a lot of those! New screenings kick off with Jodie Comer in The End We Start From.

Critical Week: Party season

Well, we're coming up to the end of the year, and awards are pouring in at a rapid pace, with top 10 lists and critics groups announcing their honours. I've been busy with Golden Globes ballots and organising the London Critics' Circle nominations announcement this week (we announce our winners on 4th February). We also announced that we're giving special awards to Jeffrey Wright and Colman Domingo at our 44th ceremony. There have also been a couple of Christmas parties, of course, as we prepare for the holidays this weekend. So I've only seen three films...

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
All of Us Strangers
Society of the Snow
Memory • The Iron Claw
ALL REVIEWS >

The British drama How to Have Sex earned several nominations, and I understood why as I finally caught up with it. Starting as a raucous drunken holiday comedy, it quickly shifts into something much more provocative and important. Debut writer-director Molly Manning Walker is certainly one to watch. And then there was the lavish French swashbuckling adventure The Three Musketeers: Milady, the second part in this all-star adaptation, putting Eva Green's shadowy character at the centre of the mayhem. It looks great, and the cast is terrific, keeping it enjoyable even when the plot bogs down in detail. I also saw the Mexican drama The Trace of Your Lips, a beautifully made and rather intensely erotic drama about isolation and connection.

I won't see many movies this coming week, but I will need to watch the Aaron Eckhart thriller The Bricklayer, the biopic Tchaikovsky's Wife and the immigrant drama Norwegian Dream. 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Stage: We didn't make it to Disney

Unfortunate
The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch
by Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx
music Tim Gilvin
director Robyn Grant
with Shawna Hamic, River Medway, Thomas Lowe, Allie Dart, Julian Capolei, Jamie Mawson, Corrina Buchan, Jack Gray, Jamie McKillop, Milly Willows
choreography Melody Sinclair
sets/costumes/puppets Abby Clarke
lighting Adam King
Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London • 8.Dec.23-17.Feb.24 ★★★★

With a cheeky, adult-oriented sense of humour and dazzling staging, this riotous musical explores the story of The Little Mermaid through the eyes of the octopus villain Ursula. Even in the relatively small space at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, the show has a lavish scale with gorgeous sets and costumes, eye-catching lighting effects, elaborate choreography and ingenious puppet work. It's a bit let down by a sound mix that blurs the witty punchlines and lyrics, but enough gets through to keep us laughing.

Narrating the story in vibrant style, Ursula (Hamic) takes us back Wicked-style to her childhood and school days with the preening sexy merman heir to the throne Triton (Lowe). Ursula is unpopular at school, so their hilariously sexy romance is doomed. Flash forward 20 years, and Triton's daughter Ariel (Medway) strikes a bargain with the now outcast Ursula, sacrificing her voice to acquire legs so she can live on dry land with her beloved dim-bulb prince Eric (Mawson).  

Everything about this show is fresh and energetic, with a mix of new songs and pastiche numbers that are cleverly reworked. So Kiss the Girl becomes a plea for consent called Ask the Girl. And Part of Your World becomes something hilariously unprintable. Each is performed to the hilt by the gifted cast, with full-on staging and costume shenanigans that inventively recreate the worlds both above and under the sea. Colours are intense and visual gags abound, making this the kind of show in which it feels like the cast is having a lot of fun, and they're sharing it with us.

Hamic has wonderful presence as the rock chick Ursula, a neon-haired explosion of charisma and sarcasm. She keeps the story zipping along, and has terrific chemistry with the Lowe's hugely engaging himbo. Drag Race star Medway is wonderfully deadpan as Ariel, a young woman who isn't as ignorant as everyone wants her to be. And scenes are expertly stolen by the fiendishly talented all-singing, all-dancing duo of Allie Dart and Julian Cappolei, who play a variety of quick-change characters so expertly that each emerges as a favourite. Their comical timing and musical skills are perfection.

With its outrageously smutty plot and florid language, this is definitely not a show for the kids. But grown-ups will find it irresistible as it takes a gleefully askance approach to a childhood favourite, complete with a triumphant message about self-determination. While it smartly makes use of the entire space, the show feels a bit cramped into this venue, so it's nice to see that the forthcoming UK tour includes full-scale theatres. 

For details, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE >

For information on the national tour until July 2024 UNFORTUNATE > 

15.Dec.23

Critical Week: Love is all around

As the year-end holidays get closer, more and more awards bodies are presenting their nominations. Monday it was the Golden Globes, which I am voting in for the second year. The new collection of 300 international critic voters has seriously shifted the nominations into something very interesting this year. Meanwhile, there's a new romantic comedy in the cinema: What Happens Later, directed by Meg Ryan, who stars alongside David Duchovny as exes who cross paths in an airport. There are no other actors on-screen, and their charisma makes the movie enjoyable if corny. Another actor-turned-director, Eva Longoria shows serious skill with the whizzy, hugely entertaining biopic Flamin' Hot, which tells the story of the janitor who rebooted Frito-Lay, from his colourful perspective.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
American Fiction • Wonka
The Zone of Interest • Every Body
The Lost Boys • The Taste of Things
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
ALL REVIEWS >

More serious fare came from Michael Winterbottom, whose 1940s Israeli drama Shoshana feels almost painfully timely and informative. It's a sometimes odd mix of politics and romance, but is hugely involving. From Poland, Agnieszka Holland's terrific drama Green Border has courted controversy for its honest depiction of heartless right-wing immigration policies, simply by telling an honest story from three wrenching perspectives. From Germany, the drama The Teachers' Lounge skilfully follows a young teacher as her optimism is dealt a blow from a flurry of rumours and accusations. It's riveting and rather scary. From Romania, Radu Jude's Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World. And I was in the theatre for another panto this week, Puss in Boots at Wonderville.

Movies this week include a trip to the cinema to catch The Three Musketeers: Milady, since I missed the only press screening. And there's more catching up needed to see films before the next voting deadlines. The London Critics' Circle announces our nominations next Wednesday...

Stage: Somewhere ogre the rainbow

Puss in Boots
by Tim McArthur, Lucy Penrose
director Tim McArthur
with Nyah Randon, Lucy Penrose, Andrew Lambe, Adam Rhys-Davies, Connor McGrane, Oli Ross
produced by Above the Stag
Wonderville, London • 4-31.Dec.23 ★★★★

By their very nature, British pantomimes are chaotic and silly, and Above the Stag has tilted even more intently in that direction this year. Instead of their usual queer theatrical pantos, this high-spirited show has a more cabaret-style approach, like a group of talented friends getting together to put on a show in the town hall, making it up as they go. Bursting with Broadway energy, it has an amusingly ramshackle, rambling plot and layers upon layers of riotous innuendo.

In a nutshell, the story centres around Master Baker (Penrose), who teams up with Puss (Randon) after the ogre Kevin (Rhys-Davies), in a rage because Puss killed his brother, turns the Prince (McGrane) into a chicken. They get help from fellow baker Dame Fanny (Lambe) to raid Kevin's lair and reverse the curse. Of course, nothing goes as planned, everyone is misunderstood, and there's a wedding on the cards.

With freewheeling glee, the action is continually interrupted by big musical numbers and a range of random twists and turns that begin to feel a bit torturous. Dialog is peppered with pointed political jokes and witty song references, and both the lyrics and choreography delight in smutty double entendre while playing hilariously with theatrical traditions. Through it all, the engaging, up-for-it performers have a lot of fun with their characterisations, enthusiastically embracing costume changes, disguises and multiple roles that make it feel like there are 10 people in the cast.

Quite a bit of this is laugh-out-loud funny, including the way the songs are bent into the story, from musical theatre classics like Tomorrow and A Wonderful Day Like Today to baking-themed pop tunes including Whip It Real Good and Girls Just Wanna Make Buns. Each of the performers is terrific, while the preternaturally talented Penrose steals the show with her astonishing musical range and skilful comedy timing as she plays Master Baker while puppeteering the chicken-prince. She even gets a fabulous break-out number all her own.

The show is so chirpy that we don't much mind the dopey gags that don't quite land, and the energy is so high that we go along with a couple of songs that seem endless in their round-and-round repetition. It's all so relentlessly, disarmingly ridiculous that we rather enjoy the convoluted gyrations of the nonsensical narrative. By the end, we're singing and dancing with the cast, delighted that it seems like it might never end.

For information, ABOVE THE STAG >

photos by Gaz@PBGStudios • 10.Dec.23

Critical Week: It's party season

December is here and festive gatherings have started to pop up, a nicely warming alternative to cold, damp winter nights. I'm still catching up on movies, seeing things for various awards voting deadlines. Nominees start coming in next week. This past week's films included Daniel Levy's warm-hearted Good Grief, an uneven comedy-drama that has some strong things to say about grief (above: Himesh Patel, Levy, Jamael Westman and Ruth Negga). Pierce Brosnan loses none of his charm as a grizzled fixer in Fast Charlie, a predictable crime thriller that's surprisingly engaging.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Poor Things • Wonka
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
The Boy and the Heron
Origin • The Peasants
ALL REVIEWS >

Higher brow films included George Clooney's The Boys in the Boat, which recounts a wonderful true story in an oddly bland way. Ava DuVernay's Origin tackles a massive issue with an involving story and perhaps too much to think about. Kelly Reicherdt reunites with Michelle Williams for Showing Up, a loose but observant comedy about the art world. Juliette Binoche cooks up a storm in the French period drama The Taste of Things, which is overlong and far too mouthwatering. Trace Lysette is magnetic in Monica, a tough and moving drama about a mother and daughter. From Poland, The Peasants is an superb historical drama with a strong kick, animated using oil paintings. And I also saw three live on-stage performances: Lunar Halo at Sadler's Wells, Tossed at Royal Vauxhall Tavern and Gary Starr Performs Everything at Southwark Playhouse.

Movies this week include Jodie Comer in The End We Start From, Eva Longoria's Flamin' Hot, Michael Winterbottom's Shoshana, the Turkish drama The Teachers' Lounge and more that need catching before the next voting deadline.

Stage: Grin and bare it

Garry Starr Performs Everything
by Damien Warren-Smith
director Cal McCrystal
Southwark Playhouse Borough, London
29.Nov-23.Dec.23 ★★★★

It's perhaps impossible to watch Garry Starr passively, largely because he simply won't let you. But this is a rare performer who actually makes us yearn for a bit of audience participation. As written and performed by Scottish-born Aussie Damien Warren-Smith, Garry is a hugely engaging actor working off his pain by indulging in full-on clown chaos. He's absolutely hilarious from start to finish, which comes far too soon.

After being badly treated by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Garry sets out to prove that there's fresh life in theatre by performing a full range of genres for us in an hour. And off he goes, spiralling through everything from the classics and melodrama to slapstick and romantic comedy, plus pretentious Euro-theatre, burlesque, ballet, butoh and circus acrobatics. He does this in various states of undress, including a masked theatre sequence in which the dark voices inside convince him to strip off completely and cavort through the audience.

Indeed, anyone watching is intimately involved throughout, as he interacts continually with everyone in the room. This includes continuous joking as well as coaxing people on-stage to play roles opposite him. And while these absurdly funny moments involve poking fun at his volunteers, it's impossible to be less dignified than Garry. That said, for all his goofy antics and silly running gags, there are pointed jabs and emotional undertones that continually catch us off guard.

Warren-Smith is a seriously gifted performer, using his full physicality and playing with words in ways that keep us laughing. So Garry is a wonderful creation, mischievous, endearingly infectious and remarkably vulnerable. This show is a celebration of the wide range of joy theatre has to offer, and a reminder that a really good piece requires someone who is almost supernaturally talented. It also helps if they look good naked. 

For details, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE > 

photos by Will Hamilton-Coates, Marinus Schimmel, Jeromaia Detto • 4.Dec.23

Stage: Spilling the beans

Tossed
The RVT Panto
by Tim Benzie, Paul Joseph
director Tim McArthur
musical director Vicki Calver 
with Ed Cooke, Leigh Pollard, Grace Kelly Miller, Ada Campe, Ben Hutt
Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London • 29.Nov.23-5.Jan.24 ★★★★

Taking their usual hilarious approach to the Christmas pantomime, Royal Vauxhall Tavern follows Rubbed, Slipped, Goosed, Pricked and Cracked with Tossed, a delightfully deranged sequel to Jack and the Beanstalk. While the structure is very familiar, the cast has been completely refreshed with a wonderfully up-for-it ensemble, and the jokes are right up to date with the messy reality of British politics. It's a perfect antidote to the usual holiday sweetness, although there's some of that too.

Narrated by the now-talking cow Daisy (Miller), the plot is fairly irrelevant, set after Jack (Cooke) has risen to social media fame as a giant killer, but he's wondering what he should do next. Meanwhile, his overambitious mother Spriggins (Hutt) is angling for him to marry into even more money, and the most likely candidate is Gina T (Pollard), a human-sized giant who is on a mission to avenge her fallen relative. And then there's Sorcererer (Campe), an endlessly mischievous magician who is happy to meddle.

Livening all of this up is a steady barrage of innuendo, rude jokes and knowingly hilarious references to things like reality TV, Britain's disastrous Tory government (including the ghost of Liz Truss) and the scandal-plagued royal family. Among the flurry of sharply performed songs that have been adapted to tell this story, there are new hits like Kylie's Padam Padam and Sam Ryder's Space Man, iconic tunes like Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), Love Shack and (I've Had) The Time of My Life, belters like Don't Stop Believin' and Mamma Mia, and the Barry Manilow/Take That classic Could It Be Magic (plus a bit of on-stage magic).

As always, the audience participation elements feel rather repetitive, including a witty and enjoyably frantic variation on 12 Days of Christmas and a climactic singalong. And each character's call-and-response gag kind of gets lost in the shuffle, as it should. But there are also riotously amusing running gags, such as Dame Spriggins pointlessly begging the audience to please not boo her. And the hilarious choreography and snappy wordplay livens up the bonkers plot, as does the chaotic slapstick and a late connection to the enduring queer scene in Vauxhall.

For information, ROYAL VAUXHALL TAVERN >

photos by Chris Jepson • 1.Dec.23 

Dance: Celestial bodies

Lunar Halo
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
choreographer Cheng Tsung-lung
music Sigur Rós
dancers Chan Pui-pui, Chen Tsung-chiao, Chou Chen-yeh, Fan Chia-hsuan, Hsu Chih-hen, Huang Lu-kai, Huang Mei-ya, Huang Po-kai, Lee Tzu-chun, Liao Chin-ting, Shao Hsing-wen, Wang Chun-hung, Wu Jui-ying
design/direction Jam Wu • lighting Shen Po-hung
costumes Chen Shao-yen • video Ethan Wang
Sadler's Wells • 30.Nov-2.Dec.23 ★★★★

Inspired by the celestial phenomenon in which ice crystals in the atmosphere create a shimmering circle around the moon, this performance explores how our bodies change and interact with an increasingly technological world. This mix of nature and human ingenuity is bracingly unusual, performed by Cloud Gate with an astonishing physicality that continually takes the breath away. It's a bit enigmatic but also exhilarating, like a painting that comes to breathing, heart-pounding life.

The dancers are lean, strong and remarkably controlled as they dive into Cheng Tsung-lung's demanding choreography. Movement is fluid at a variety of speeds, as the performers shift in and out of positions, both on their own and in unison. Pairs display spectacularly fluid, gravity-defying lifts while solos involve intense flexibility, including precise, controlled movements standing on one foot. Costumes shift from flowing trousers to skin-coloured underpants.

All of this is performed with vivid, sometimes extreme lighting and a set of video screens that continually offer visual surprises, whether it's the appearance of a towering figure, a torso as a landscape or mirrored maze that captures the dancers inside. The effect is often jaw-dropping, but everything plays into a soulful exploration of humanity as it exists among nature, alone or in community. Or the feeling of sitting with the glow of a screen as our only company.

The score by Sigur Rós often feels more like a soundscape than music, but it also provides an intriguingly sharp musicality to the movement. Gender is often a factor, with men and women sometimes adopting specific positions that play on sexuality and roles. Perhaps the most striking image is the extended opening sequence in which the male dancers link to form a single organism, stretching and bending and reaching toward the sky.

For information, visit SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Cheng Chen-chou, Tristram Kenton • 30.Nov.23