CALIPER BOY
Camden People's Theatre, Hampstead Road, NW1
THE Camden People's Theatre plays host to Caliper Boy, a macabre mix of dance and physical theatre set to rather wonderful live music provided by folk band Left With Pictures.
According to the mysterious London street artist that created him, Caliper Boy was born in 1819 to a Soho prostitute. He has stalked the forgotten alleyways and abandoned buildings of the capital along with the rest of the dispossessed ever since.
In the hands of the Dante or Die Theatre Company, Caliper Boy becomes a study in alienation. He is given life through the performances of Terry O'Donovan and Sarah Sproull who interact with each other so closely that they almost become one and we see Caliper Boy for what he is - a kind of archetype for the outsider in us all. We watch him grope his way through the darkness of life, yearning to find his true place, his voice a cacophonous noise that only occasionally finds shape and meaning.
This all makes for a rather disconcerting theatrical experience and one is sometimes left rather adrift and wishing that the performance would return to a more coherent form. However, just when the audience is in danger of disengaging entirely, Left With Pictures appear with another song whose perfect melodies and poetic lyrics offer some sort of commentary on the action. Indeed, one might say they are the glue that holds the production together.
In all, this is a largely successful piece. It is worth seeing for the discomfort and incongruous lift it inspires. - EDWARD SHEPHERD
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