• Advertise
  • Request Review
  • Write for Us
  • Privacy
  • Login

Theatre Bubble

The UK Theatre Network

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Opinions
  • Interviews
  • Guides
  • Tickets

Depart at the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

June 20, 2016 by Alex Wood Leave a Comment

Review of: Depart at the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Graveyard
Produced by:
Circa, LIFT FESTIVAL 2016
Price:
Sold Out

Reviewed by: Alex Wood
Rating:
3
On June 20, 2016
Last modified:June 20, 2016

Summary:

Depart is the product of a vibrant and energetic theatrical culture that constantly strives to push boundaries - may it set a bold example for others to follow.

More Details

Depart, another bold instalment in the LIFT festival, is a monument to artistic endeavour. Through the tireless efforts of Circa and the LIFT organisers, the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park has been transformed into a huge, haunting venue, littered with lights, performers and screens, hidden amongst the scores of tombstones and weed-ridden foliage. You’ll be sorely pressed to find a location like it in London – this is a one-of-a-kind.

Circa have taken the cemetery and run with it, guiding audiences through the dozens of different installations, each one lit by ethereal lights, performers, ghostlike, swing from tree branches or emerging from behind masonry. You almost feel as though you’re walking in the footsteps of Circa head Yaron Lifschitz, mentally recognising where each performer could go and which tree would make for an ideal instrument in circus entertainment. There were moments where you’d see pole dancers   posed together in a lonely copse, delivering wonderful routines before scattering back off into the darkness. Other times it was a troupe of pale, female dancers in synchronised isolation amongst the tombstones, ghastly and ethereal for minutes until stillness reclaims them and the audience are ushered on forwards.

www-test1_

It is worth admitting that not everything about the show came off with such exhilarating promise – the nature of a promenade production attended by around 200 plus individuals, even when split into groups, inevitably led to long delays and some waiting between events as audiences are coaxed to the next location – it felt erringly similar to the same wait you get at a tube barrier during rush hour. Given the logistical exercise the show was, it has too be said that for the most part this was incredibly well executed, but perhaps slashing audiences sizes in half could have been a step towards speeding up the process of movement between acts.

This was a performance piece called Depart, set in a graveyard – it could only succeed if it achieved a complete sense of immersion in the premise and environment in which it was placed. This took some time – only when night fell, daylight evaporated and the moon emerged did the show truly reach its true potential, delivering an exhaustingly memorable finale that saw all the performers come together and forge an incredibly physical, raw sequence of visual feats before the re-assembled crowd.

It is exciting to be living in a city where such artistic experiments can be executed, transforming public spaces into incredibly absorbing work. Depart, along with plays like Karagula or even Handle with Care are the product of a vibrant and energetic theatrical culture that constantly strives to push boundaries – may it set a bold example for others to follow.

Depart is part of the 2016 LIFT Festival. Find out more here. 

Author: Alex WoodAlex is the former reviews editor at Theatre Bubble, but since changing position now contributes occasionally. He has been writing reviews for a number of years, as well as seeing his own shows performed. He has produced and marketed a number of performances at venues in London, Oxford, Edinburgh, including the world premiere of Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke.

Filed Under: Featured, Review Tagged With: Circa, Depart, Lift Festival, Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

Join the discussion Cancel reply

INTERVIEW / Silent Faces on Godot is a Woman’s first UK Tour

Silent Faces return to the stage with their signature style of playful and political physical theatre, interrogating permission, patriarchy, and [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Max Rinehart on The Retreat

We spoke to actor Max Rinehart about his experience working on the European premiere of Jason Sherman’s The Retreat at [Read More]

NEWS / Frozen Light celebrate 10 years with Sensory Symposium

The UK’s premiere company for adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities invites industry professionals of all genres and sensory [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Jenny Foulds on Life Learnings of a Nonsensical Human

Performer Jenny Foulds tells us about her forthcoming one woman show Life Learnings of a Nonsensical Human, coming to the [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Monique Touko on We Need New Names

We Need New Names is a defiant and exuberant coming-of-age story follows a young girl from the playgrounds of Zimbabwe [Read More]

Top Posts & Pages

  • 5 Stage Elements to Consider for a Rousing Theatrical Production
  • Katy Owen: Auditioning for Oxford School of Drama
  • Helena Middleton on Ad Infinitum's If You Fall
  • Michelle Visage to join the cast of Everybody's Talking About Jamie
  • Samuel Beckett Festival Rocks the Print Room
  • Max Rinehart on The Retreat
  • Jess Mabel Jones on Potential Difference Theatre Fragments
  • Jenny Foulds on Life Learnings of a Nonsensical Human
  • Yasmin Paige on Actually
  • Silent Faces on Godot is a Woman's first UK Tour
  • Alex Wood
    Contributor

  • June 20th, 2016
  • comment iconNo Comments
  • Facebook4TweetLinkedInEmail

    Newsletter

    Enjoyed what you've read? Get even more great content directly to your inbox - Completely Free

    About Theatre Bubble

    Theatre Bubble is the news, review and blogging site created by Blue Pie Media and run by a dedicated team of outstanding editors and writers: we're always looking for new contributors - to find out more click here.

    Contact Us

    News: news@theatrebubble.com
    Reviews: reviews@theatrebubble.com
    Website: webmaster@theatrebubble.com

    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2023 · Blue Pie Media

     

    Loading Comments...
     

      Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

      Email sent!