maliphantworks2 at Print Room was dramatic and lovely

Dance is all too rare a beast in the otherwise expansive cultural richness that is London. There is Sadler's Wells and that is about it. That alone would have tempted me to go and the name Maliphant made it compulsory. I had seen several of his pieces performed by other artists, notably Balletboyz, and was keen to see his own group do them so I promptly paid my £25 for Seat D6.

I had not been to Print Room for a few months (there are a lot of theatres in London!) and had forgotten that there were so many cafes nearby so I settled for a vegetable pasty from Wimbledon Station instead. Next time. I had remembered how good the par was there though and before going in I helped myself to a London IPA and had a look at the curiosities adorning the room.

There was a nice symmetry to the evening. There were four dancers, two men and two women, and four pieces and the evening went two men, two women, interval, first mixed couple, second mixed couple.

In Critical Mass the two men, Russell Maliphant was one of them, danced vigorously and closely. It was a display of technical excellence and deep trust. It was two men working together to a common end, co-workers not lovers. The working aspect was reinforced by their matching blue shirts. In it's mood it reminded me of the gorgeous wall scene in The Rodin Project.

Two Times Two was a study in light. The two women were dressed in black outfits with no sleeves that helped to hide their bodies and accentuate their arms. They danced separately in two blurs of whirling and stabbing arms.

Still (an ironic title) played more tricks with lights as bar-code like lines flew confusingly across the stage. The strobe effect was striking as it hid and illuminated different parts of the dancers in quick succession. It was an energetic dance too making full use of the stage.

Duet saw Russell Maliphant and one of the women dance a piece that was almost the mirror of the first except that this time they were definitely a couple and the dancing was slower and more tender.

Even with the interval it was a short show, not much over an hour, but I had no complaints about that.  All of the pieces were dramatic and lovely and they also worked together nicely to make it a sumptuous performance.

Babette’s Feast at Print Room was achingly gorgeous

I fancied Babette’s Feast for several reasons. Having heard of but never read the story I heard a dramatisation of it a few months previously and loved the almost English charm of a story in which not much really happens.

I also liked Print Room on my first visit, for The Tempest, and was keen to be back in their quirky spaces. Their bar is one of the very best despite the limited range of beers.

I remembered that the front row (where I sat last time) was sunk to almost stage height and so I went for a seat in the second row, B9, for a fair £28. I was pleased to see all the seats around me taken and most of the seats in the theatre taken too. This on a Wednesday evening.

Babette’s Feast made the transition from novel to play in a neat and pertinent way. A group of refugees hiding from armed forces, in Syria maybe, kept their spirits up by telling the stories that make up the narrative of the book. Early on the main narrator leaves and others take over believing in the power of the story.

The first narrator became Babette, one of the many times that the cast doubled up in their roles. We also had different members of the cast playing the same role as, in the story, the characters aged. This was best done when the two sisters aged thirty years or so.

There were many other nice things to enjoy too including music and singing (one of the characters was an opera singer and sounded like one too), fluid changes between scenes, subtle lighting and delicious acting. I genuinely cared for the characters and that made the stories the more engaging.

Babette’s Feast was a delightful story told delightfully and I smiled in delight all the way through it.