The Wood Paths – Traverse Theatre

Tired of watching paint dry? As an alternative, Manipulate Festival offers The Wood Paths at the Traverse Theatre.  Beginning with thirty straight minutes of performers and co-creators Rūdolfs Gedinš and c chopping into large wooden logs in silence, this show is certainly off the wall.

Produced by Latvian company, Theatre on Gertrude Street (ToGS), The Wood Paths is an abstract and eccentric piece of performance art that is both mysteriously aloof, and affectionately playful.  Directed and co-created by Andrejs Jarovojs, Rudof Bekič is another co-creator alongside Samĭtis and Gedinš.  This certainly was a unique performance, and while some may say its reeks of fine-art ostentation, it can’t be denied that The Wood Paths is absolutely intriguing.

The performance was in complete silence except for the rhythmic chopping of wood, the motors of power tools, and the whir of a printer which intermittently printed out cryptic messages.

While the wood chopping did take an unbelievable length of time, there was so much content to unpack within that simple action.  Sometimes Gedinš and Samĭtis chopped in perfect synchronicity, sometimes in succession – this relentless chopping became sort of meditative in a sense, creating a growing sense of urgency and anticipation, evoking questions that were never really answered.  It was quite alarming to see the wood splinters flying while neither of the performers wore safety glasses – although to my amusement they did wear safety glasses later on for a much less volatile section of chopping.

I did begin to wonder if the whole hour and twenty-five minutes would just be them chopping wood, but luckily this was not the case.  Once the logs were dismantled to satisfaction, they were placed upright, creating a makeshift forest which later was visited by a funny sort of forest yeti.  During this forest monster’s visit, our other performer had wrapped himself up in a cylinder of paper, cutting out holes for his arms and face – completely surreal.

Although this performance was absolutely absurd, there were some beautiful images on stage: a wooden box is hoisted up, dangled from the roof, deconstructed and then re-made into a large bird, flapping its wings.  Paper is sliced, lights beam through the dark.

Theatre on Gertrude Street states that this show is about humanity – our creativity and its limitlessness – our need to find meaning in everything.  And really that is quite the perfect definition of The Wood Paths.  For example, I thought it might be about consumption and its impact on the environment, and while not quite right on paper, it still aligns with ToGS’ vision as I was actively seeking to understand and find meaning during the whole show.  Everyone will come to their own conclusions and find their own meaning, but it is the act of seeking and the sheer scope of possible resolutions that we could come to that is the important thing here.

I really did struggle when trying to assign a star-rating to this piece – I wouldn’t exactly say I was entertained, but I definitely was interested, I was curious, and so in that sense I would say ToGS were successful.  Plus, a very strong reaction was certainly evoked from the audience so that has to count for something.  Some walked out mid-way, some raved about the cleverness of the dramaturgy, and some, like myself, sat somewhere in the middle – appreciative but maybe slightly unconvinced.  Nonetheless, it was quite the experience – one I’ll still be telling people about years down the line.

For more weird and wonderful, visit https://www.manipulatearts.co.uk/festival/

Reviewer: Jessie Martin

Reviewed: 9th February 2026

North West End UK Rating: