Melbourne Reviews

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Compagnie Philippe Genty are no strangers to Australian shores, as they tour here quite regularly with their blend of puppetry, mime, illusion and dance. Lands End, made in 2004 and directed by Genty and Mary Underwood, has a distinctly Genty look. Men in trench coats and bowler hats carrying suitcases, miniature houses, fantastical puppets interacting with human performers and various objects reappearing and disappearing into and out of the floor make appearances in many of his works.

The images are easily readable – a bride with a flying veil, a duo of office workers gliding cabinets and large cylinders with human heads poking out of them. Facial expressions are often exaggerated suggesting that the performers are not individual characters, but more projections of a general theme. There is no clear story line, only various vignettes of dreamlike scenarios. The presentation is crisp and surreal and, while the images frequently recur, Genty does not visually overload the stage at any one time.

Although the familiarity of the images becomes predictable and sometimes overworked (especially if you have seen Genty’s work before), what is surprising is the way that Genty and Underwood constantly shift the frame of the action and distort the audience’s perspective. With simple sliding panels in front of bright washes of light, the perimeters of the space continually change, trapping figures in boxes, then opening them out again to reveal new additions. Panels slide across tableaus of silhouetted figures or drop down low to their head, trapping them in tight rectangles. Humans roll out of large, billowing plastic bags (or are they wombs…or clouds?). Cardboard cutouts transform into humans in the blink of an eye and bizarre puppets have minds of their own.

Lands End also has several dancing sequences including a love duet. This physicality injects more human emotion into the parade of objects and animals. The performers are adroit at moving between choreography, puppet manipulation and illusion, and even text/singing. None of this would be possible without the help of three technicians whose activity back and under stage is crucial to the success of the spectacles. 

With a 90 minute running time, Lands End wears out its appeal before the curtain comes down. Shaving at least 20 minutes off the running time would not hinder its ability to beguile and amuse. In fact, it would leave the viewer with a more satisfying experience - whetting the appetite without overfeeding.  


the Arts Centre in association with Arts Projects Australia presents
LANDS END
by Philippe Genty

Venue: the Arts Centre, State Theatre
Dates: 12 August – 16 August 2008
Tickets: $89.00 - $39.00 | On sale 28 April 2008
Bookings: theartscentre.com.au*, 1300 136 166*, the Arts Centre Box Office or Ticketmaster outlets
* Transaction fee applies