Assembly Hall by the Kidd Pivot company is curiously absorbing. Depicting an AGM of a historical reenactment group, this piece marries quick-fire dialogue, precision dance, a great sound design (Owen Belton, Alessandro Juliani and Meg Roe), mime and terrific ensemble work. This ailing reenactment troupe in love with paying homage to chivalric romance takes us on a journey inside the minds of its members, with their dreams, fantasies and illicit affairs.
The cartoonish mannerisms that illustrate the dialogue are exaggerated and aptly fit the battling excesses of a living history group. The compulsion to create long-lost hand-to-hand battle with clanking armor and heavy swords is intoxicating, indeed – almost an addiction which is hard to give up. Reenactment groups avidly research and make their own costumes. Their zeal is at odds with the earnest obligations of a dull AGM Committee with its obligatory rules. Two sides of the one coin are presented here.
The set (Jay Gower Taylor) resembles hundreds of community halls around the country. Taylor pays close attention to detail and uses different heights to good effect. The village hall stage doubles as a place for fantasy to play out and a rectangular box of colour, hidden behind curtains (as our inner fantasies are often hidden). It reminds us that this romantic hobby is separate from reality yet, perhaps it feels more real and vital than real life and this tedious committee meeting.
The show conveys a blend of fabulous fiction and mundane, ordinary folk, each inwardly invested in a grander, larger-than-life world. Sometimes fact and fiction get tangled up.
Choreographed by Crystal Pite (an Associate Artist at three institutions: Nederlands Dans Theatre; Sadler’s Wells and Canada’s National Arts Centre) and scripted by Jonathon Young (recipient of the UK National Dance Award) there is plenty to make you smile. The armour section at the end is beautifully rendered and this eight-strong cast work seamlessly together.
Reviewer: Kathleen Mansfield
Reviewed: 22nd August 2024
North West End UK Rating: