The Gotham Suite - Stephen Petronio Company - Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay - 04/10/05

Ethan Switch - Thursday, 6 October 2005 - Print Version

State Theatre. Sydney Theatre. Same initials, two very different locations. The State is on Market Street. Out over on the back of Walsh Bay near The Rocks, Hickson Road sports two theatres under the Sydney Theatre banner. One's for dance. The other, well, that's for another night.

Stephen Petronio himself is the Broken Man that begins a night full of dance and wondering, just wondering, what to do with life. Chaotic, brutal and tragically alone, the sole performer is a world unto himself. No pain more than the frustration of a helpless situation. An intense set of five or so minutes and there is nothing more than the flailing of arms in a cruel twist of humanity.

Stragglers find their seats and it is then that the discovery of the first act is made. Short and quick, they stumble and clink their way through, making the people know where their seats are.

City of Twist features people moving in and out of spaces, relationships and the environment of their cold and harsh city. Sex may be a part of the dance. Lovers drape themselves across the streets in post-coital defeat. Angst and the heat of a harsh landscapes prove to shadow their emotions. Occasionally blinding the audience with spotlights shooting into the seats does little in the way of slowing down their moves. Muscles are busting out of the legs of the dancers, at once rippling and exploding with movement and finesse.

Water jugs on either side of the bar drain as fast as the broken sweat cracks a stew. Cowboys crack open Coke bottles that don't twist off. Infuriating. Don't drink from the side with the chip, it's deadly and unclean from the balcony lip.

The Island of Misfit Toys begins with Willem Dafoe executing a silver bullet performance of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven. Madness reigns and rules the misty air. A cacophony of strange and freaky delights of sights, visuals and expressions presents itself. Screeching and scratching on the soundtrack drops the entire theatre into a spiral of demons and fun park nightmares. Carnival round houses cinch the audience into a sleeper lock, dreaming of things that make no sense if sense lies in straight forward happiness or fear.

Leave the night walking off wondering.

Ethan Switch