Brighton Fringe 2007
Review
On one of the wettest nights of the year in the Russell Street Car Park, man met machine in a tense frenzy of emotion.
Corpus Soma theatre company presented an intense audio visual physical theatre production to a shivering crowd, who were herded behind barriers by a revving car.
We soon realised that the car was a character in the piece, along with the muddied nearly naked man who conveyed us in the lift to the 15th floor. A projection screen and video were used to rather vague effect, with a powerful sound system heightening the atmosphere at times, though I think there was unexplored potential with regards to the music.
A slow start left me wondering whether this was just another site-specific piece, with nothing more than a novelty setting to engage the audience. However the tension increased as the man and the playful yet insistent Volvo fought and fucked in the pouring rain to the sound of ‘That’s Amore’. The audience were then drawn with little persuasion into the dark and rainy night to witness the dramatic climax of this genuinely intriguing love affair.
As I walked down the piss drenched stairwell and back to the neighbouring (cheaper) car park my mind was riddled with questions, and I had the sense that I had seen something truly unique and thought provoking.
This was a very worthwhile evening, so keep your eyes peeled for Corpus Soma in the future.
