Hofesh Shechter Company in Theatre of Dreams!
Hofesh Shechter Company are at Sadler’s Wells with their new Theatre of Dreams!, a long stream-of-consciousness take on what we all do each night - dream…
Hofesh Shechter Company in ‘Theatre of Dreams!’. © Todd MacDonald
Hofesh Shechter Company
Theatre of Dreams!
★★✰✰✰
London, Sadler’s Wells
11 October 2024
hofesh.co.uk
www.sadlerswells.com
Hofesh Shechter’s Theatre of Dreams! is just what it says on the tin - a work about dreams. Dreams are often incoherent and, in keeping, so is Shechter’s work. I usually don’t remember my dreams and as I write this, an hour after seeing Theatre of Dreams!, there isn’t so much detail I remember or really want to remember. At 90 minutes (without a break), it’s at least twice as long as it ought to be, worsened by a late start and several false endings. If you are hoping for some revelation or a vivid dream that grabs your imagination and has you on the edge of your seat following every surreal twist and turn… you are in the wrong place. But despite my clock-watching weariness, there is actually some fantastic movement on show here.
Shechter’s 13 dancers are astonishing shape-shifting and mesmerising performers, and his pounding tribal choreography (and soundscape) really can gnaw at your soul and connect you with an elemental world that we have lost touch with. The trouble is that it takes an age before we see such movement in a quantity that makes you take pleasing notice. Ahead of that, we only get fleeting views of such excitement, courtesy of some super-sharp staging using blanking curtains and lighting cues (Tom Visser) that presents an endless series of dream images, most lasting just a few (inconsequential) seconds. A murder, arguments, fear of being caught nude in public, a bit of private bopping etc., trundle by together with many, many, less clear images.
There are two sections of Theatre of Dreams! that lift the spirits. After about 50 minutes, the onstage band of three (as much part of the wandering action as the dancers) starts playing a catchy dance number, the curtains go away, and the dancers invite the audience to dance along with them. Those in the stalls can dance in an elevated pit area; elsewhere, many stand and shimmy in free-form abandon. And towards the end, we get a long section where the dancers are let off the leash and again impressively and wildly noodle. It slowly builds and builds, the Wells’ foundations shaking with pounding drumming - you think the end is coming, and we will all ‘wake up’ on a high. But no, it goes on too long before winding down, and with resignation, you realise we are back to the tedious and mundane of the dreaming world.
If you have never seen Shechter’s company, you undoubtedly should - the dancers and quality of movement can be extraordinarily exciting and well removed from so much other staged dance you see. But as a singular work Theatre of Dreams! is difficult to recommend - there is just too much tedium and tedious repartition here.