Tom Marshman: Legs 11

Tom Marshman: Legs 11

Tom Marshman: Legs 11

Tom Marshman’s new show is at its best when it poignantly draws our gaze downwards to examine the plight and power of our oft-disregarded pins. ’36 inches of blood, bone and muscle’, in his case, jauntily showcased in some frankly fabulous sparkly, star encrusted tights as the lights rise on his lanky frame.

This is a nostalgic show, from the opening film of showgirls taking us through their leggiest manoeuvres, infinitely multiplied across an art-deco shaped screen, to the martini rosso on a silver tray and 80s inspired songs by Sam Halmarack. Marshman takes us through eleven actions related to his evolving relationships with his legs. The most interesting are more metaphorical, as, for example, he teeters between past and present on a shoreline made up of knotted-together stockings. As the images become more literal – footage of him running the Bristol half-marathon wearing an enormous pair of wooden legs – I miss this theatricality. The show’s form multiplies, the songs in particular feel like they belong somewhere else, and contribute to a sense formlessness and gradual loss of momentum (not helped by a series of technical glitches with the projections which seemed to me unforgivable in a theatre with no less than three technicians in the box). I also found the emphasis on fame and celebrity difficult to care about: was Marshman’s appearance on Embarrassing Bodies discussing his varicose veins simply set up to produce material for this show? This kind of meta-referentiality seems to me to make the performance less not more interesting to a wider audience.

There’s some really touching material in here – ardent girls, desperate for their moment in the Pretty Polly spotlight, and an appeal for us to value the beauty of our own dancing pins – and Marshman is an endearing performer. I enjoyed spending an hour in his company. There’s something richer and more wistful hiding inside this show, about identity and appreciating your own gifts, but it feels rather muffled by some of the content at the moment – there’s a bit too much cosiness for there to be space for us to identify with the show’s heart.

www.tommarshman.com

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About Beccy Smith

Beccy Smith is a freelance dramaturg who specialises in developing visual performance and theatre for young people, including through her own company TouchedTheatre. She is passionate about developing quality writing on and for new performance. Beccy has worked for Total Theatre Magazine as a writer, critic and editor for the past five years. She is always keen to hear from new writers interested in developing their writing on contemporary theatre forms.