Fantasy No. 10 - The Beauty of Life

A bearded man in a tutu dangles a pair of ballet shoes in front of him. An impassive woman in a sheer dressing gown repeatedly tips a man out of a wheelchair and puts him back in it. Actions loop and fragments of dialogue are shared ritualistically between performers.

Vladimir Tzekov’s Fantasy No. 10... is an exploration of the aesthetics of stagecraft when divorced from naturalism and the tenets of narrative and character. With its elliptical shape and dissonant use of music (including original compositions by the Tiger Lillies), this isn’t for people who prefer kitchen sink drama over European theatre or gulp at nudity.

The overall effect is incantatory: a rhythmic insistence of sound and image that produces some striking visuals and bizarre, comic moments as the grammar of the stage is scattered to the four winds. The complete stillness that accompanies the final minutes is strangely calming. All expectations have been stripped away.

But, boy, this production can also be hard work. The fragments of social theory intoned at regular intervals hammer the point of the piece to the wall with bludgeoning force. They contribute to an air of over-earnestness that undercuts the mournful power of the figures stranded in the blank space.

At its best, this is an unnerving dance across a strange landscape. At other times, though, it feels like hollow spectacle. It’s beautiful and aurally unique, but the occasional squeak of surface stretched over a lack of substance is audible.