Photo: Christoffer Brekne
She Let Go of the Handgrip of Life
Now, there is nothing more to say about the performance 'Shroud'. Great art does that to us, leaves us silent with moist eyes. Completely engulfed in our own inner worlds of life and death. Everybody in the audience cries from the beauty of the scene, crafted by Jeppe Cohrt and Christoffer Brekne lighting design. Our eyes and hearts are allured by the long swiveling, rotating curtains surrounding Andreas Constantinou in his enormous shroud. An immense video face on the floor, Andreas talks about the death of his mother. Her dying.
That’s never easy. To die, knowingly. To let go of the handgrip of life, while your son holds your hands.
The Enormous Shroud Seems to Be Alive
Entangled in grief and his nascent sense of death - both the incoming and the one alive - the performance 'Shroud' takes the audience to the land of the not-living. I’ve never seen anything like this, with the soundscape created by Johannes Smed hammering into my bones.
The enormous shroud seems to be a living organ with multiple faces and personalities inside. I think Andreas Constantinou is only one, but at times there seem to be three or more not-living persons in the shroud. The material of the shroud makes patterns of light and shade, so that I see dozens of faces in it.
Like grief. Faces projected onto the inner curtains of the mind. Terrible scenes of longing, transformation, sadness. The loss of body, but the reminder of expression and personality.
And Then, Suddenly, Curtain Fall
Still, I will stay silent - holding my stance in the waves of the audience’s hands showing their gratitude and admiration with the sound of living people clapping. Curtain fall has arrived. In the dark, we walk through the city, talking about death and life. I thank you for a profound experience at Bora Bora in Aarhus. It’s good to be alive.
Shroud
Artistic concept / Director / Choreographer / Performer Andreas Constantinou
Collaborative artist / Dramaturgy / “Outside Eye” Tone Haldrup Lorenzen
Scenography / Lighting / Technical manager Jeppe Cohrt
Video design / Lighting / Photo / Trailer Christoffer Brekne
Music & sound design Johannes Smed
Voice actor (break and meditation) Zoe Mills
Producer Sigrid Aakvik and Signe Sandvej, Art & About
Artists involved in the early research periodMagnus Pind (Video)
Tim Panduro (First Video Trailer)
Siri Knutsen (Rehearsal Director)
Anna Loft (Intern)
Co-producer Bora Bora – dance & visual theatre.
Ambiorn Happy, Kulturnyt.net
★★★★★★
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