Theatre / Reviews
Review: Wodwo, Old Vic studio
Wodwo is the 20th anniversary production from the Bristol Old Vic Young Company and surely none preceding it have been so unusual.
Based on the words of a poem by Ted Hughes, it’s like David Lynch playing Laser Quest with the people that live underground in Delicatessen.
There is scarcely any dialogue and many of the words we do hear are nonsense, said by a cast dressed like a university rugby team on a pub crawl with luminous costumes made of gloves, shin pads and goggles.
Below them is soil. Above them are plastic bags and plastic bottles.
And a in a now familiar Old Vic touch, props never remain one thing for too long, especially the bars of halogen lights which double for trees and most memorably as a storm – the actors running round and round creating a real gust of wind for the first few rows.
The sometimes completely baffling goings-on here were devised by the 17 cast members (aged from 11 to 24) alongside director Alistair Debling.
Musical director Kieran Buckeridge adds more life to proceedings with an atmospheric score and movement director Miranda Cromwell creates some thrilling moments, especially when a mass of actors come together as one organic whole bringing to mind the choreography of Pina Bausch.
The story focuses on a girl who has lost her father and in looking for him encounters a whole host of creatures real and imaginary, good and evil and a mixture of the two, in a forest.
It might be a dream or quite possibly a nightmare, perhaps dealing with childhood trauma following the death of a loved one.
Wodwo must have been terrific fun to devise for this talented bunch of young actors. Not always terrific fun to watch, it is challenging and sometimes confusing but always lively.
Wodwo is at the Bristol Old Vic until Saturday. For tickets and more information, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/wodwo.html.
Photos by Jack Offord
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