Brighton Fringe 2026
Deluge
Gabi Flares
Genre: Dance and Movement Theatre, Physical Theatre, Solo Performance, Surrealism
Venue: Rotunda Theatre - Brighton - Bubble
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
If you open the channels of social media – the avalanche of the inner soliloquy – you can sometimes find a story that explores a shared experience, and in this case, the feeling of grief is both present and potentially dormant in many people’s minds. This physical theatre, one-hour solo performance expresses that grief can be delicate and irrational whilst moulding into many forms. Grief is the motivation of each movement, each moment, each interrupted sound. Collecting forty stories was the starting point of Gabi Flares’ surreal journey into sharing fragments of these tales through dance, erratic soundscapes, projections and prop manipulation.
‘Deluge’ was created by Gabi Flares and Directed by Andrea Maciel.
Review
Where one strand of thought begins, another ends – no linear narrative, just remnants of stories that merge between verbatim accounts of different cases of grief verses Flares personal attachment to the acceptance of a relationship ending. Whether loving a person who was obsessed with jam is a buy in for the audience or not, it soon doesn’t matter as you become invested in Flares performance and her fixated turmoil of events that are passing through time. Grief manipulates and disguises itself in both the beautiful and the sheer ugly – this one-hour performance captures this beautifully – grief can indeed make us go crazy ‘clutching’ onto something that manifests into something else. Expect the unexpected, and when you see a pot of jam on a shelf – you will be transported back to this frantic performance of loss, betrayal and regret. Flares performance is ritualistic and captivating in it’s best moments, full of fun, about to embark on an international tour – a brief stay here in Brighton, but definitely memorable.
“You never move away from it – you move forward, with it.”
This became the metaphor throughout, launching onto the stage of the Rotunda Bubble was Flares – walking forward with her ladder and keyboard, but never quite managing to remove herself completely. She engages her audience from the start, with some light heartened audience interaction that allows us to ponder questions that perhaps we haven’t yet thought of, “what does the end sound like?”
Flares shift between different accounts of grief is disjointed in structure, navigating between incoherent voices and audience presence. She makes maneuvering through the ladder seem effortless, with poignant moments of self-reflection. She tries to set up her partner’s abandoned keyboard, using her looper pedal to create the soundscape of her internal grief through existential singing. This is a great idea, with some moments working better than others and perhaps an area to explore further. What breaks through these fleeting moments are the memorable stories – never leave poison near a household of animals, this was a noted moment of stillness amongst fast paced action that was both welcomed and devastating.
What is immeasurable is the workings of Flares mind – with stunning physical sequences that really gain a sense of the beauty that we find in sorrow – this worldly insight into redemptive grace. Yes, she may cry millions of tears, that would fill her whole home, but those tears can become the sea – morphing into other unknowns where you can appreciate the grace of the jellyfish. This is life affirming, seeking to find the joy again from moments of devastation. Flares captures this moment with detailed personified mime, that is a gentler moment amongst the chaos, baring resemblance to Eliza’s peaceful movement in the sea in ‘The Shape of Water’.
Deluge’s dreamlike non-linear structure is a performance that is intentionally jarring – this is great, as we want theatre that evokes conversation. However, in moments this contrast didn’t always work, with some improvised moments working better than others. The use of projections in some places seemed unnecessary – perhaps less is more in this viewing. The work really takes flight when Flares performance evokes it’s true mania state, with a standout scene of her physical embodiment of the pain she feels/felt when her relationship ended and the rage this elicits. The truth is grief can make us angry and imagine the unimaginable – this is a few minutes of volatile choregraphed sequences of heightened figurative mime and reactions that move seemingly through the transitions of pain, passion and rage. Raw – Emotive – Authentic, with Flares and Maciel’s take on loss and longing – stunning.
As Gabi Flares states, “Tragedy and comedy are brothers and sisters”, and we all can relate to this statement and how the feeling of something ending is woven into our lives. Laugh and lean into this kooky take on life and loss, it’s an hour to remember and a hidden gem of this festival.
