Rambert: Death Trap – The Lowry

Following on from the success of their adaptation of Peaky Blinders, Rambert are back at the Lowry with their current tour Death Trap. Consisting of two separate pieces Cerberus and Goat, Death Trap is more contemporary theatre than contemporary dance but is no less engaging and is intensely powerful.       

Cerberus is an adaptation of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.  It opens with Aishwarya telling the audience that what we are about to see is her life, from birth to death.  She emerges stage right, with a rope around her middle and moves across till she exits stage left.  As she exits her Orpheus emerges holding onto the other end of the rope.  He is unwilling to believe she is dead and with the assistance of his translator friend Alex, they try to come up with ways to stop others going to the other side while looking for a way to recover Aishwarya/Eurydice.   While Orpheus and Alex are planning, there is a constant stream of souls entering the underworld or stage left in this case.  Alex is sent to search for a net but is not entirely successful.  In the end Orpheus enters the underworld of stage left himself to try to find Eurydice, but before he leaves, he must remember one important thing – do not look back.        

Dark and dramatic, Cerberus is visually stunning, emotive, funny and as ever with Rambert, beautifully danced.  Unusually for a piece of contemporary dance there is a great deal of speech involved, but it does not detract from the powerful storyline but enhances it with details and humour.    

The second piece Goat is inspired by the music and spirit of Nina Simone.  Reporter Angelique and her camerawoman Simone are there to broadcast from the meeting of this group, but due to Animal Rights campaigners they no longer sacrifice a goat but a human.  The ritual starts and the group are led in song which turns into personal movement profiles about things they feel.  From the meeting emerges Fate whose job it is to decide The Chosen One who will dance themselves to death.  Jonathan is chosen and eventually does the deed, ending up a broken figure dead on the floor.  Throughout the ritual and dance the performers are interrupted by Angelique and the camera, wanting to know what each dancer’s choreography is about and how Jonathan feels about being chosen.  Jonathan’s death affects her greatly and watching the grief of his boyfriend moves her to the point where she sacrifices herself so that Jonathan may live.  Goat is performed to the songs of Nina Simone, sung by Sheree DuBois who has a beautiful voice and carries each song with perfection.   

Ben Duke has devised and directed both parts of Death Trap.  Both have a surreal yet somehow grounded feel and both are remarkable to watch.  Completely different from each other but bound by the reality that death is inevitable.  The live musicians and singers assist in creating the impact of the show but as always with Rambert the quality of choreography, dancers and performance gives a production which leaves the audience wanting more.

Playing until 20th April, https://thelowry.com/whats-on/rambert-dance-death-trap/

Reviewer: Helen Jones

Reviewed: 18th April 2024

North West End UK Rating: