The New York Sun 6 June 2005
The New York Sun
Monday, June 6 2005
Arts and Letters
Theater by Helen Shaw
TENSE DAVE
Dance Theater Workshop
“A fellow denizen of the murky theatrical dance border, the Chunky Move company is now at DTW with it’s own inspirational offering. The dizzying, astonishing “ Tense Dave” doesn’t play on our inner innocence, though – it knows us for the alienated, violent, ridiculous creatures we are.
On a disorientating trip through genres from gothic romantic to chopsocky, the shambling Dave (Brian Lucas) is understandably tense. His little world is a rotating turntable, divided by movable partitions. As it turns, strange tableaux swing in to view- a girl in a nightgown wields a knife, or an intense young man suffocates himself with a plastic bag. Once Dave starts to wander, horror-struck, into their scenes, the emotional violence accelerates, further, flinging characters on and off the whirling stage.
Co-creators Lucy Guerin, Michael Kantor and Gideon Obarzanek use this creepy, creaking merry-go-round like a cinematic “montage” letting images rapidly succeed one another. They also employ impressive tonal control, shifting effortlessly among poignancy, hilarity and bone crunching nastiness. The show is a miracle of production design and performance. Don’t miss it.”