Written by: Caroline (@caroveraclare)
Ovalhouse, London
****
Before entering Ovalhouse Downstairs, we are asked to wear
sticky labels bearing our names. It’s an early sign that we will not be sitting
anonymously in the dark: telling a performer your name gives them the power to
single you out and this makes the audience more vulnerable - but Toot
Collective promise ‘to include you in their world without scaring you to bits
or putting you on the spot (not too much anyway…).’
In the theatre the seats are distanced from each other, giving
you the kind of enforced personal space that stirs memories of so many school
exams. Stuart Barter, Clare Dunn and Terry O’Donovan are on hand to welcome us
onto the ‘course’: we will be studying success and failure, from Brownie badges
to speed dating via the absurdity of interview questions and the fierce terror
of the driving test. There are instructions to follow and several tests to
complete – I won’t spoil surprises here but it’s amazing how a task, a time
limit, a ticking clock and a ‘supervisor’ pacing the rows of seats recalls the
quiet panic of the exam hall. This being press night, a gentlemen sitting
towards the front has a pen and paper ready in his lap – performers face
success and failure all the time, and every show is a test of its own.
Barter, Dunn and O’Donovan move fluently between characters and
situations, text and movement. As our ‘course leaders’ there are lovely touches
establishing a workplace hierarchy, and all three bring great physical and
facial expressiveness to the clean, effective choreography. The show is a
reminder of the infinite potential of a black box theatre and a piece of chalk.
Live music and clever sound effects are skillfully employed, and the script is
full of details that ring true.
The overwhelming triumph of childhood victory contrasts
with the complexities of adulthood, when success in one area of life can sit
alongside failure in another. With this subject matter I almost expected
something heavy and cathartic, an attempt to make the audience confront their own failures; but this is not that
show, and Toot do a brilliant job of evoking sadness and disappointment without
dragging us down. The performance surrounds and involves us, but doesn’t force
intimacy or involvement – the spotlight may fall on you, but it will move on.
This lightness of touch achieves great things, with people happier to reveal
things about themselves than they would be if pushed – and by the time we had
completed our ‘course’, the mood in the room was elated.
I had never been to Ovalhouse before, but will certainly be back
- as an Ovalhouse Commission, Ten Out of Ten is an example of the theatre's
commitment to supporting new work and is well worth the trip to SE11.
This production runs until 27 October 2012.
For more information: http://www.ovalhouse.com/whatson/detail/ten-out-of-ten1
@Ovalhouse @TenOutOfTenShow #TOOT
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