Twilight. 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.