Translunar Paradise Review
Translunar Paradise
Ad Infinitum
Words are easiest form of communication, clumsy and inadequate though they often are. To be silent and to still be understood is much more of a challenge. And so it was amazing to watch the ease and grace with which Ad Infinitum were able to communicate to me. Translunar Paradise is without words, though it is not silent: its music is an accordion and a voice singing without lyrics as the two actors dance and mime on the stage. It is a charming and moving play that narrates the story of William, who loses his wife and in his grief remembers their youth, and of her ghost who tries to help him move on.
On the stage a mime artist has a remarkable ability to say a million things with a facial expression or a movement. Off the stage an exaggerated smile would look ridiculous or mocking, but on the face of the mime artist it is perfect. The use of the stage was simple, amongst the few props used were two masks that represented old age and took on a strange power over the dancers, anchoring them unwillingly to the present. The atmosphere is created by the beautiful singing of Kim Heron, accompanied sometimes by her accordion, sometimes alone, sometimes just whistling a tune. She creates a hopeful or melancholy mood and emotion with her voice faultlessly.
Any other sounds used in the play are uncomplicated and evocative: the sound of his aged shuffling feet, fingers drumming on the table or the ticking of the clock.
As well as the masks it is through the movement that the past and the present are distinguished: the stooping posture of the dancers shows how the heaviness of age and sadness has pulled their shoulders down. Their bodies too are trained by the familiar habits or warn routine: two teacups on the table, linked arms when walking.
The loss of his wife draws him back in to the past and the memories are relived. There is beautiful sequence when William leaves for war and when he returns he is plagued by the experience. It is so moving to watch his fear of the guns and the comfort he finds in her arms.
It is all so simple, and so beautiful: his grief at losing her, the tenderness with which her ghost watches him and their joyful reunion in youth. It is a true festival gem and my words can never share its feeling as well as the dances of Ad Infinitum do.