Casier and Dies: Apples

The relentless logic of everyday objects is a language deeply familiar to very small children. To fresh eyes and hands still discovering their own dexterity, household materials hold their own mystery and no more so than the instruments of the kitchen, in which so many intriguing transformations take place. This is the world into which we’re invited by Dutch artists Casier and Dies, who have created a space where we can not only watch but actively join in with some of the fascinating domestic acrobatics involved in kitchen processes.

The first part of this delightful show invites us into an intimate object theatre performance inside a rustic yurt. Crouching on benches, the secrets of a converted sideboard-cum-kitchenette gradually reveal themselves. From the top, a reconstructed tree proudly presents six apples from branches re-created by stacked segments of tree, still bark-covered. A cupboard door winches down to present a wooden toy truck, whose work harvesting fruit from the tree is supported by a playful selection of traditional kitchen implements, characterised with a beautiful lightness of touch by the show’s two dungaree-clad performers. The performance, which moves steadily through the collection, delivery, preparation, cooking and packaging of delicious fragrant apple sauce into miniature glass jars, showcases some lovely object work, ably supported by Karel Casiers’ acrobatic background, which seems to effortlessly bring the selection of kitchen esoterica to life, alongside an uncompromising treatment of the real. If part of an apple is dropped, or an object behaves unexpectedly there’s a rigour to responding to the problem in real time. In this way, the performance celebrates our relationship with objects and food in a way that recalls the slow food movement and which feels deeply sympathetic to a child’s eye view of the world.

The performance also showcases some ingeniously adapted objects and set items: a cupboard transforms into a fish-tank into which bubbles can be blown to create the underwater den of a curious corkscrew; a drawer is adapted into a chute down which glass jars can roll into the back of the wooden truck. Thoughtfully anticipating any self-respecting toddler’s response to such items, at the end of the show, the company open the tent’s flap to unveil a playground of witty Heath-Robinson contraptions designed for toddler testing. Mine was thrilled with the chance to explore pulleys, winches, turntables and concealed lights. Inviting them to get hands-on completed the show’s offer of a simple, generous performance with a child’s eye view of objects at its heart, and an appeal to every one of their senses in its world.

 

 

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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.