Revisor

Adelaide Festival

Her Majesty’s Theatre

18th March

*****

This was a performance to savour. A completely successful blending of theatre and dance. Nikolai Gogol’s “Revisor”, or as it was known in Adam Cook’s production for The State Theatre Company some years ago, “The Government Inspector”, is suitably adapted for this stunning melding of these two major artforms.

This tale of mistaken identity and the corruption in Czarist Russia is told by the dancers through the medium of mime voice actors providing the dialogue to the on stage artists as they perform the very physical and expressive dance. The result enables the story to be told without compromising the main event, the dance.

Choreographer and director, Crystal Pite’s ability to brilliantly combine the mayhem to the dance is nothing short of stunning. As the dancers undertake all manner of movements there seems to be a direct link between this and the evolving farcical story. Make no mistake the choreography was stunning and a sheer joy to see. Add to that the superb dancing from all on stage and you have the complete package.

This is an important work in that it takes the concept of ballet, or dance, to a new level and in doing so ensures that it has both relevance and most importantly, a future. This production has an appeal that goes well beyond the tradition of dance. The ability to tell the story verbally whilst not comprising the very original choreography adds massively to the production’s appeal.

Michael Prescott

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