Latitude 2009
Low Down
Perhaps one of the most singular experiences you can have on the fringe – Bootworks place a single audience member into a blackbox in order to perform an intricately choreographed show through carefully manipulated port holes.
Review
Finally the stars alligned and FringeReview was able to catch Bootworks’ Little Shop of Horrors.
The first thing that struck this reviewer about Little Shop of Horrors was Bootworks startling attention to detail. Using miniturised props, masks and synchronised movements this young company created a silent film caught somewhere in the space between Michel Gondry, the Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and a slasher flick. They skillfully warp your perception, play with your perspective and downright give you the willies. The performers, who apart from one, are all clad in macabre doll masks flow around the box moving in unison, dividing and multiplying in numbers and popping up in unexpected places. The fact that audience members are also given headphones blocking out any outside interference (an ongoing problem at Latitude) only served to intensify the experience.
This show deals in images and effects rather than a coherent narrative, don’t expect to come away understanding exactly what you have seen. Rather this is an ingenious box of tricks, a wonderful demonstration of what technical theatre can achieve in the hands of a clever young company with slightly twisted imaginations. This is a five minutes that it will take you a long time to forget.
You also have to admire the discipline of performers who clearly don’t bat an eyelid at performing the same show six times in one hour!
Catch The Little Box of Horrors in Edinburgh as part of the Forest Fringe at an as yet undisclosed location.
Show Website
http://www.myspace.com/bootworks
