Stage: Married to the job

Gecko
The Wedding
created by Amit Lahavwith Mario Garcia Patrón Alvarez, Lucia Chocarro, Madeleine Fairminer, Vanessa Guevara Flores, Ryen Perkins-Gangnes, Saju Hari, Wai Shan Vivian Luk, Miguel Torres Umba, Dan Watson
music Dave Price • sets/costumes Rhys Jarman
lighting Joe Hornsby • sound Jon Everett
Sadler's Wells East, Stratford • 21-24.Jan.26 ★★★★

As part of MimeLondon, the international physical theatre company Gecko reimagines its acclaimed 2017 stage production exploring the contracts we enter into as members of society. This is a provocative piece, but it's also a lot of fun, bristling with wit as it playfully punctures imagery and ideas that we take for granted. Using marriage as a metaphor, the show is a work of art that doesn't need to be interpreted specifically. Instead, it's best to sit back and enjoy the astonishing skill in this eye-catching, emotionally resonant performance.

The setting is surreal, as new people are delivered onto the stage down a chute, put into a wedding dress and sent to work with a briefcase. Workers then spiral around, making phone calls and conducting business in squares of light on the stage, trying to fit in as they aspire for promotion. They speak to each other in a variety of languages that add to a richly dense music and soundscape, with thoughts and feelings revealed using both full physicality and the tiniest movements and pauses. The loose, kinetic choreography is a fascinating mix of personal and corporate expression.

Along the way a few characters emerge, including a married couple struggling with the demands of their life and a sparky family of immigrant buskers who live in a suitcase and try to integrate with society. Momentous events pepper this 75-minute show, including a few wildly energetic, ethnically charged weddings that create a striking sense of community. This adds a hopefulness to scenes that depict a life constrained by rules and expectations, including moments in which people are literally boxed in or thrown out.

Every element of this show is expertly assembled, including the timeless, shifting costumes and inventive sets and props that cleverly light up the cast members. Other lighting emerges from the wings, creating a luxuriantly inky blackness around the cast. The cumulative effect is dazzling, especially as the show continually offers honest commentary about how social structures can crush our humanity while also providing avenues for individual expectation. And it's in the paths to escape that the show finds a profound sense of joy.

For info, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Malachy Luckie • 21.Jan.26