Motionhouse: Nobody – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Dominic Corr

Jun 9

Conceived and Directed by Kevin Finnan

Choreography by Kevin Finnan, Junior Cunningham and Original Cast

Original Score by Tim Dickinson and Sophy Smith

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Entering its third touring year, Motionhouse: Nobody has been enthralling audiences across the UK and Europe. Now, landing at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, this demonstration of raw physical prestige and gravity-defying choreography is met with tremendous appreciation and applause after a one-night run in the city.

An uplifting tale with sharp beaks and daring action, Nobody confines its cast to an urban environment, the bustling nature of the city echoing into the theatre as Logela Multimedia projects a panoramic cityscape behind and onto the set. There's a sharp intake of breath and a sucker punch as we 'feel' the collisions and rigidity of form throughout the physicality of the performance.

'Feel' is the best terminology in describing the audience experience of the production, as the narrative constructed for Nobody is the least complex or intricate part of the show. A group of friends are persistently watched over by a murder of crows: the corvids represent their inner anxieties, worries and depreciation. It's a clean idea but does become a repetitious cycle of introduction, challenge, and resolution for each person. But the plot becomes side-lined to the swift dexterity and circus feats on the stage, a continual flurry of movement with dexterous choreography which ranges from duets, solo pieces integrating the brilliant staging, or ensemble routines where weight and gravity become a plaything.

As pillar-box structures make up the depth of the stage, their scale offers dimension as they twinkle with lights to suggest distant housing blocks. It's a strikingly claustrophobic set from Simon Dormon, the ever-present cawing of the crows overhead, the set's shifting sizes, and central cube construction morphing and contorting as the city closes in around the performers.

This cube is the central point of action for the most part, sometimes a quaint home, more often a sense of confinement and physical barrier. Stretched over with a cloth, its primary purpose is usually to become a screen for the projections, a skeletal climbing frame concealed beneath. It's a striking feature, one which occasionally robs the performers of the limelight somewhat as it morphs into a humble meeting place, a home setting, or a grizzly amorphous cube – devouring those lost to their inner turmoil.

Kitted in black glittering harnesses, Sophie Donaldson's costumes range from the bondage vibe for the crows to the practical nudes and muted tones for the principal performers as their characters go about their daily ventures. Finnan and Chunningham's choreography is to the letter in the design and pacing – nothing feels rushed without the sacrifice of the 'danger' or circus elements. The entire troupe proves a marvel to watch, Berta Contijoch's poise and strength at being thrown around, balanced, and performing many of the troupe's aerial feats are to be commended.

But a sinister presence is always lurking in the more practical, even classical form of expression in the first act. Explosions of black feathers, sharp-beaked reflections and shadows, and hints of ominous goings-on are present but never fully manifested until the second act's more abstract sense of choreography. Drowning, re-birth and escape, the more introspective elements of the production begin to unearth in the much shorter, but strikingly well-paced and executed second act come together to form a tight, and even uncomfortable act in its frankness.

The immersion of Nobody is a powerful element, as too are the impressive physical feats of the entire troupe. Its narrative is more of a threaded backbone for the movement to shine and the staging to flesh out the form. Its symbolic imagery of the circling corvids makes for an engrossing production that in time grows more introspective and abstract, and all the better for it. It's thrilling, it's impossible, it's hypnotic.