'Aesthetically impressive' ★★★ - An Enormous Room @ Circomedia

Isabella Matthews reviews Stopgap Dance Company's dance-theatre performance

An Enormous Room is a dance-theatre piece exploring grief, created and performed by disabled and non-disabled performers. The first half establishes some lovable characters and relationships (namely the budding romance of Sam and Tom) through its visually enrapturing set. However, during the second half, in its eagerness to express itself visually, the piece sacrifices plot in favour of convoluted although beautiful dance sequences.

"Christian Brinklow (Tom) contorts his back into positions I didn’t know were possible"

The aesthetically impressive set features cupboards at varying heights, which are used as entrances and exits. This set creates several impressive moments by being extended and manipulated; a windowsill allows the lovers to interact awkwardly and there’s a large curtained area in-between which Christian Brinklow (Tom) contorts his back into positions I didn’t know were possible! His jarring movement is complemented by the soft lighting and pink set in a moment of pace, which contrasts the predominantly slow, repetitive tone.

The character of Mother is simultaneously portrayed by two incredible dancers, Amy Butler and Hannah Simpson. Their staggered movement of everyday action is simple but effective and gives insight into the daughter’s (Sam, played by Hannah Sampson) intimate relationship with her mother and the husband-wife dynamic in the household. However, having two actors prevents us from understanding the family dynamic as a unit.

Afterwards, my friend and I questioned how much we would have understood without reading the programme, which explains the theme of loss and the change in perspective between the first and second half; the first is told from Dave’s point of view, and the second from Sam’s.

I believe that the first half is accurate in conveying the story. However, the perspective seems convoluted, as I felt that, as an audience, we had an awareness of Sam and Dave’s perspective rather than just Dave’s. The second half, however, begins with the daughter as the focus, but it quickly becomes evident that it is a group contemporary dance section, which ignores the sense of grief and reliance on others developed in the first half.

Without reading the programme, Chock-Deaths Servant (Nadenh Poan), would seem bizarre because his character primarily involves whizzing round in his wheelchair and nimbly rolling all over the set.

"it is frustrating that the focus on the second half is a highly-skilled contemporary routine which loses all sense of story"

Whilst the physical strength and sheer talent of the performers is unquestionable, the second half of the piece appears to abandon its meaning. The beauty of the first half is that it portrays characters who are not defined by their disabilities. Therefore it is frustrating that the focus on the second half is a highly-skilled contemporary routine which loses all sense of story; relationships appear disjointed with random duets of characters who hadn’t encountered each other in the first half.

The disabled actors occasionally join in, however, Toole in particular sits isolated, watching the choreography despite being a lead role. Unlike the first half, rather than his disability being embraced, it becomes an ostracising factor.

★★★

(Featured image: Facebook / Stopgap Dance Company)

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