6.0: How Heap and Pebble Took on the World and Won

6.0: How Heap and Pebble Took on the World and Won

01 September, 2010
by: Spoonfed Theatre Team

Naima Khan previews the Edinburgh Fringe hit ahead of its run at Battersea Arts Centre

6.0: How Heap and Pebble Took on the World and Won is an award-winning play that has a tendency to rack up recommendations, get people talking and split crowds wherever it goes. It returns this September to Battersea Arts Centre where it's bound to rouse a collective “aaah” and a bit of a "hmmm?" from a packed theatre.

Don't be fooled though, it begins with a rather dark premise. All the world's natural ice having melted a good five years prior, and the Winter Olympics cancelled, Slovakian ice dancers Heap Krusiak and Pebble Adverati refuse to become obsolete.

Assured of their place in the world, the pair persist with the glitzy costumes, the cheesy grins and ice skates, all the while with the 6.0 perfect score of the title in mind. The highest attainable score in ice dancing, 6.0, is also a reminder of degrees and the temperature changes that have led Heap and Pebble to their seemingly impossible task: to recreate ice-dancing without ice.

The play takes only an hour to explore the ways we adapt to change. As the dancers stand on stage, desperate for a material that cannot be provided, Heap and Pebble show us what happens when our dreams are challenged. Their sportsmanship and efforts in striving for perfection tap into our human impulses and are held up as a graceful reflection of what we can be.

Actors Thomas Eccleshare and Valentina Ceschi – co-artistic directors of memorable theatre company Dancing Brick – have been hailed for creating something with great pathos and Valentina's background in movement direction brings delicacy and power to the show. Expect dry, understated humour at its best from a show that won the Arches Brick Award 2009 after it premièred at Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Click here for recommendations from Edinburgh Fringe 2010
Click here for Theatre in London
Click here for Things to do in London

Spoonfed Theatre Team