Eldarin Yeong Studio & Normal Love Theatre: Normal Love

Eldarin Yeong Studio & Normal Love Theatre - Normal LoveTwilight. In the semi-darkness I can make out the still silhouette of a cellist, sideways on. Perhaps one other figure consumed by the shadows. A male voice, like a heartfelt Bulgarian chant, breaks into the silence and so commences Normal Love. This is a show by Eldarin Yeong Studio and Normal Love Theatre, directed by visual artist and theatre director Zi Ling. It’s a physical exploration of the darker side of love, inspired by the paintings of Francis Bacon, performed by three men and one young woman, and two male musicians; one exceptional acoustic guitarist and one cellist, who in certain scenes, physically performs in the movement vignettes.

The theme of Normal Love is tried and tested male-female relationship angst. The woman portrayed here appears to be a bit of a minx, manipulating her choice of fella while tying herself up in tangles and knots. Eleven scenes of love, desires, jealousy and passions include the woman controlling a man by (real) near-invisible threads, gently guiding him this way and that way, wherever her whim desires. There’s a floppy doll-like rolling on the floor piece, where the man cannot gain any worthwhile purchase on her limp and unresponsive body. Going out for a drink with a man, and the bloke malevolently spitting his alcohol in her face and her responding by dribbling alcohol repetitively down his shoulder. There’s a scene where she dances wildly, constantly falling over and getting up and falling again and again whilst under the sideways-on stare of all three very composed men. I enjoyed her rapidly unravelling a spool of white cotton, while a gent’s hands fluttered about to rapid guitar, all accelerating faster and faster. The minimalist set is simple and versatile: a metal spine-like coil, with a formidable ability to cast bold shadows, divides the space and both arcs and frames the performance area which itself is on a platform with capacity to turn 90°.

For a show that aims to “create a world that is saturated by violence and governed by distorted desires,” exploring “love and all its dilemmas in a surreal and heightened world,” Normal Love has something very clean and tidy about it. Beautifully designed. Performed with great commitment and passion. Magnificent, occasionally jarring music. From time to time I closed my eyes as the live soundscape was so strong that I wanted my own, perhaps more raw, images to manifest behind my eyelids, as at times I found it to be a curious mixture of both twee and tortured. Normal Love, a bold collaboration between visual artists, actors, musicians and designers, is successful in showing us, in a refined way, the games that lovers play, of manipulation and frustration, of hope and desire.

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About Miriam (Mim) King

Miriam King is an Artist/Choreographer/Dancer/Live Artist/Filmmaker born in London , living in Brighton , working internationally. With an art school background, her professional performance career commenced in 1984. Moving from theatre through to dance, and to live art and film, her most significant training was with Anton Adasinsky's company DEREVO at their former studio in Leningrad, Russia in 1990. Miriam's work is influenced by Butoh dance. She has been creating her own unique performances since 1992, taking her to dance and live art festivals and artist-in-residences around the World. Her award winning dance film work has been shown at Lincoln Centre/ New York , Pompidou Centre/Paris, ICA/London, the Venice Biennial and at the Sydney Opera House, Australia and in every continent (excluding Antarctica ). Miriam has a continuing performance relationship with Gallery Kruh, Kostelec nad cernymi Lesy, nr Prague , Czech Republic which commenced in 1992 and an ongoing performance relationship with SoToDo Gallery , Berlin & the Congress of Visual and Performance Art.