Blaze at Peacock Theatre

Blaze at Peacock Theatre

19 March, 2010
by: Benjamin Goode

Benjamin Goode tries to break his way home - bad idea.

The scene is set: pairs of multi-coloured trainers aligned at the front of the stage, against the back-drop of what could be the stock room of Size's flagship shoe store. Two young males enter and begin to try on tops for size, amidst gasps and whistles at the rippling torsos on display. Any thoughts of contravening normal theatre-going etiquette (ringing mobile, talking to your neighbour, vocal displays of appreciation) are soon set in abeyance as the bass and skittering snare of the first song pitches in at the volume of a club soundsystem.

Dressed like East End hedonists, dancers populate the stage with unimaginable energy, acrobatics and of course dancing, and boy how they dance. Within the first five minutes you find yourself wondering exactly how will they maintain this frenetic display of youth pop culture, delivered with such assured poise and at a break neck speed for the next 80 minutes.

Maintain it they do though, and then some. Blaze, a collaborative project directed by Anthony Last and choreographed by Ryan Chapell and Chris Baldock, does attempt to tell an abstract overarching story with crowd participation and wholesome message to boot (apparently something about eating your greens but don't worry if you think you're overweight it really doesn't matter but let's hear it for celery anyways! Woop Woop!).

Thankfully the story is ancillary to the numerous things going on at any one time. There's all manner of arresting visual tableaux, like the coy physical flirtation of reticent boy and girl, or Mike Song's choreographed enactment of Marioland on a Nintendo Wii, which is entertaining, funny and executed with pin-point accuracy. These are all scenes that would be instantly recognisable to the target audience – adolescent and lusting after a job in a painfully trendy trainer store on Neal Street.

But that is not necessarily a bad thing. While in substance yes, it is very of the time, momentary and utterly transitory, but it's the reams of talent on display that carry the show to its end. It's not just the youthful exuberance and technical accuracy of the international cast of dancers but it is also a triumph of lighting design, choreography, costume and composition. As the dancers take the plaudits, one is envious. Maybe it's not too late? Perhaps I too could go home and practise my isolation technique in the mirror? And when you start thinking like that, you know you're in trouble.

Blaze runs at Peacock theatre until 28th March


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Benjamin Goode