THEATRE / Why Things Happen - ICA, London SW1
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Ian Spink's Second Stride have come to be accepted as part of the wave of new British theatre that embraces all forms and eschews all labels. Here, movement seems almost peripheral to text (Marty Cruickshank), design (Antony McDonald) and music (Bach). While making a film about a musician, Greg, a verbose Australian video director, recalls his love affair with a dancer, Paula. He talks of atoms and energy; the musician deconstructs Bach's Sonata No 1, and the dancer traces her emotions in movement. The dislocated stream of consciousness that follows is more suitable for the therapist's couch than public consumption, and there does seem something absurdly cock-eyed about a piece that sets out to equate the terrible beauty of nuclear fusion with the petty squabbles and emotional angst of a relationship between rather childish adults. But, against the odds, the piece works, gradually discarding its cool distancing effects and building to an emotional crescendo that reveals a dreadful symmetry in past and present histories and the date of Greg's birth, 9 October 1957 - the day of the first Australian nuclear test explosion.
Performed again tonight (071-930 3647).
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments