Last Rites, Bristol Old Vic – ‘An utterly extraordinary masterclass in visual storytelling’

Amongst Bristol’s proudest theatrical exports is Ad Infinitum, which has for 18 years been a pioneering and distinguished force in UK physical theatre. The multi-award winning company’s most recent offering, Last Rites, is now gracing Bristol Old Vic’s main stage.

On this occasion, co-artistic director of Ad Infinitum George Mann – whose extraordinary work on Pink Mist first caught my eye in 2015 – directs the show, which he has co-created with deviser and performer Ramesh Meyyappan.

The two met at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe back in 2010, and a decade later they began work on what would become Last Rites.

What they have created is a sprawling tale of grief, appropriately mirroring its subject by spanning both decades and continents. Meyyappan is the sole performer, whose character we follow from childhood in India to something approximating middle-age in the UK.

Performer Ramesh Meyyappan in a white shirt and grey trousers. Ramesh is kneeling on the floor next to a black mat with his arms out facing up to the sky. There is a low, long platform at the back with folded clothes on the edge. The back wall is full of galaxy-like projections.

The grief Last Rites is concerned with is not solely the grief for what is lost (in this case, the character’s father), but that for what was never had.

Our protagonist is Deaf, and this show finds its lingering agony in his father’s refusal to learn sign language. Last Rites is set within this chosen chasm between father and son, over which falls a harrowing and voluntary unilateral silence.

Performer Ramesh Meyyappan in a white shirt and grey trousers. Ramesh is stood up sideways with his left arm out blocking his eyes and his right arm out to the side with fingers pointing down. His mouth is wide open. The background is projected with a red and orange explosion.

All theatre – really all art – is in some sense an act of translation. My instinct at this moment is to write that Meyyappan’s ability to translate grief without spoken language is especially extraordinary. Had Meyyappan’s performance been about 10 per cent less earth-shattering, had Last Rites been merely a work of towering genius, that is probably what I would be writing.

But Meyyappan’s accomplishment makes clear to me that physical theatre has all the richness, nuance and subtlety of written language. Far from operating within any form of deficit, Meyyappan is infinitely more fluent with his body than the overwhelming majority of playwrights are with words.

Performer Ramesh Meyyappan in a white shirt and grey trousers. Ramesh is kneeling on the floor holding on to and facing a silver bowl on the floor. There is a low, long platform at the back with folded clothes on the edge in the background. The back wall has a projection of a large face reflected in water. The floor has a white spiral projected onto it.

With almost preternatural precision, Meyyappan implies the world. From the air around him he carves his props. Meyyappan’s is the most efficient single performance I can remember ever seeing.

The projection in Last Rites, designed by Christopher Harrisson, is a fundamental component of a minimalist set. It has to be acknowledged that Harrison has pulled off a masterclass in visual storytelling. The cascading abstract representation of death, the mirrored reflection in the water, the substitution of glasses for ‘dad’ all contribute to a smart and moving display.

Performer Ramesh Meyyappan in a white shirt and grey trousers. Ramesh is lying on a black mat, with his head and torso lifted forwards and his legs on the floor. His left arm is beside him on the floor with fingers stretched out. The back wall is dark with thousands of tiny white lights projected.

Director and Co-creator George Mann is also due enormous credit. Last Rites is an utterly gorgeous piece of work, and for all the in-your-face talent of Meyyappan on stage, it is clear from the show’s opening that you are in the hands of a truly gifted director. Mann’s masterful handling of time and distance – both on the stage and within the world of the show – is a sight to behold.

So, there we have it. Whilst I appreciate that ‘Ad Infinitum has created a stunning piece of theatre’ is fairly dog-bites-man journalism at this stage, I thought I’d let you know in any case.

Last Rites – photo: Bristol Old Vic

Last Rites is at Bristol Old Vic on July 15-19 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at www.bristololdvic.org.uk. Follow @theatreadinfinitum for updates and future shows from the company.

All photos (unless stated): Mihaela Bodlovic

Read next:

• Ramesh Meyyappan and George Mann on making their boundary-breaking non-verbal show for Ad Infinitum
• Review: Beautiful Evil Things, Tobacco Factory Theatres – ‘A visceral and electrifying performance’
• Review: If You Fall, The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘An urgent, devastating and taboo-busting exploration of older people’s care’