Continent

This Japanese mime company have set themselves the perilous task of tinkering with some well-loved stories. The story is inspired by the Coen Brothers' cult classic, Barton Fink, and the performance takes Japanese traditional mime in a dramatically experimental direction. It's a brave undertaking, but the risk was undoubtedly worth it.

Continent's hero is a writer with a rapidly-approaching deadline. He is battling with writer's block; as he wrestles with his typewriter, the characters he creates become increasingly and absurdly intertwined with his reality. CAVA, the company behind this show describe their work as “Japanese Strange Performance”. But “strange” doesn't do this unique blend of mime and dance justice. The cartoonish set design and costumes are visually captivating. The characters possess an astounding depth given their silence, and Yukiko Tanaka's performance as the romantically-involved secretary is marvelously expressive. When she dances, her ethereal movements are given emphasis by the contrast of her four male accomplices. Their clever choreography is bursting with energy and yet tempered by a distinctly Japanese formality that gives definition and strength to their movements. Minimal objects are used to create intricate spaces for accented action, and to transform the performers' bodies into an escalator, a bicycle, a door. CAVA have reinterpreted a cult film and a genre of theatre with extreme skill and fantastic imagination, and the result is an utterly enchanting piece of theatre.