Sun is the latest production from Hofesh Shechter’s oeuvre. Sun lives up to his reputation as one of the most fecund thinker choreographers in UK.
He is an artiste who probably has a million visions in his mind with the ability to bring them to life. Sun is no exception. Starting with a tongue in cheek reassurance in Shechter’s voice promising a happy ending with the audience safely ensconced, the show progresses from calm serenity to unexpected scenes of gut wrenching violence and chaos.
With the dash of humour at the beginning, the audience warms up as the music breaks in with Shechter’s trademark lighting flooding the stage. A scene of picture postcard calm – with a herd of cardboard cutout sheep is rudely shattered by a cardboard cutout wolf with malevolent intentions. An ear splitting scream from a camouflaged dancer sitting with the audience in the front row further unsettles the audience. The music changes with extremely loud thumping heavy rock beats. The sheep scatter and Shechter’s band of dancers change their tranquil dance moves to his custom jerky body movements projecting fear and loathing. There is uncontrolled chaos on stage and scenes of incredible violence. There is shooting and stabbing. The dancers mimic picking up rifles and point to the audience or they get stabbed themselves falling flat on their faces.Tranquility is torn up. The dancers who are enjoying their folksy dance moves, are shaken stabbed and torn by the rule of the businessman, again in a cardboard cutout keeping strict control over them. The dancers bunch up in a group repeating the same movement trying to tell that they are happy in their way of life, together in their routined existence. A conscious attempt to protect and support each other. Complete blackout at times with a stark opposite of full bright lights and then all settling down getting calmer. The sheep slide in so does the wolf and then the businessman, scream from the dancer in the audience provoking another set of turmoil.
In Sun Shechter’s mind turns to the chaos and uncertainties of everyday life that lurks behind a sunny facade. Its not as soul shaking and awe inspiring in conception as the Political Mother, his last work. But it’s still Shechter with his raw energy and mind boggling stage concepts saying something existential about us modern beings.
Protima Chatterjee
