LondonTheatre1

London Theatre: Tickets | Reviews | News | West End | UK Touring Productions

All Shows Booking Now
  • Home
  • Top Selling Shows
    • Musicals
    • Plays
      • A Christmas Carol
      • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
      • The Mousetrap
      • The Woman in Black
      • Witness for the Prosecution
    • Back To The Future
    • Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
    • Dirty Dancing
    • Frozen The Musical
    • Heathers
    • Jersey Boys
    • Les Misérables
    • Mamma Mia
    • Matilda the Musical
    • Moulin Rouge
    • Pretty Woman the Musical
    • The Book of Mormon
    • The Lion King
    • The Phantom of the Opera
    • Tina the Musical
    • Wicked
    • London Theatres
      • Seating Plans
      • Adelphi Theatre
      • Aldwych Theatre
      • Ambassadors Theatre
      • Apollo Theatre
      • Apollo Victoria Theatre
      • Cambridge Theatre
      • Criterion Theatre
      • Dominion Theatre
      • Duchess Theatre
      • Duke of York’s Theatre
      • Fortune Theatre
      • Garrick Theatre
      • Gielgud Theatre
      • Gillian Lynne Theatre
      • Harold Pinter Theatre
      • His Majesty’s Theatre
      • Lyceum Theatre
      • Lyric Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
      • Noel Coward Theatre
      • Novello Theatre
      • Old Vic Theatre
      • Palace Theatre
      • Palladium
      • Phoenix Theatre
      • Piccadilly Theatre
      • Playhouse Theatre
      • Prince Edward Theatre
      • Prince of Wales Theatre
      • Richmond Theatre
      • Savoy Theatre
      • Shaftesbury Theatre
      • Sondheim Theatre
      • St Martin’s Theatre
      • Trafalgar Theatre
      • Vaudeville Theatre
      • Victoria Palace Theatre
      • Wyndham’s Theatre
  • News
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • UK Shows
    • Alexandra Theatre
    • Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
    • Brighton Theatre Royal
    • Bristol Hippodrome
      • Bristol Theatre Seating Plan
    • Edinburgh Playhouse
    • Glasgow Theatre Royal
    • Grand Opera House York
    • King’s Theatre Glasgow
    • Kit Kat Club London
    • Leas Cliff Hall
    • Liverpool Empire
    • Manchester Opera House
    • Manchester Palace Theatre
    • Milton Keynes Theatre
    • New Theatre Oxford
    • New Victoria Theatre Woking
    • New Wimbledon Theatre
    • New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
    • Princess Theatre Torquay
    • Regent Theatre Stoke
    • Rhoda McGaw Theatre
    • Richmond Theatre
    • Stockton Globe
    • Sunderland Empire
    • Swansea Arena
    • Victoria Hall Hanley Stoke
  • Newsletter
  • West End
  • Dancewear
Home » Reviews » Breakin’ Convention Presents: The Ruggeds State Shift

Breakin’ Convention Presents: The Ruggeds State Shift

May 27, 2023 Last updated: May 27, 2023 12:00 am By Chris Omaweng Leave a Comment

It’s unusual, I’ll give it that much, with three very different sections to this brief performance. The first made more sense to me than the second, and the second more than the third – which is quite an achievement given that the second involved no dancing at all, in a dance show. It does, however, give Jessy ‘Boi Beige’ Kemper an opportunity to demonstrate his music-making skills. Rightly, he saves his best music for last, even if early on in his set I felt transported back decades, to those days when a technical fault of some kind would mean live television was paused, before a continuity announcer apologised for the interruption in transmission, and some instrumental music would play for a few minutes until the fault was resolved.

Breakin’ Convention Presents: The Ruggeds State Shift - Photography credit Emile Vrolijk.
Breakin’ Convention Presents: The Ruggeds State Shift – Photography credit Emile Vrolijk.

As I didn’t peruse the freesheet provided until the Tube ride home, the disc jockey set was entirely unexpected to me – at the risk of sounding snobbish, I didn’t come to Sadler’s Wells to watch someone twisting knobs and playing the keyboard, however excellently they do so. And what eventually become a pulsating rhythm seemed inappropriate for an audience to sit silently and listen to: I would prefer not to attend ‘immersive’ productions, but even I felt this was the kind of music best enjoyed by an audience permitted to take to a dancefloor, especially if we were to be denied seeing anyone on stage dancing themselves for this section.

The first section, ‘Waterbrothers’, was mesmerising stuff, with Lee Demierre and Roy Overdijk more often than not moving in complete synchronicity. They were never far from the surface, physically speaking, keeping close to the floor, although emotionally the performances ran deep, with a rivalry between their characters that in the end was far more friendly than it was bitter. At times, it seemed they were spurring one another on, and at other times working in tandem, as though facing a common enemy of some kind and working together to subjugate it.

‘Turns’, the final section, involved a lot of kneeling down to begin with, as Virgil ‘Skychief’ Dey doesn’t seem to know which way to go, and (this being a solo performance) there’s nobody to guide him. The piece is really about navigating through life, in case anyone was wondering if Google Maps may have been of use to him. The use of what are best described as hanging bars of light was more fascinating to me than the dance moves, however frenetic Dey’s movements became – it says something that I kept trying to count how many there were, far easier said than done as they themselves kept moving about, with the lighting design working hard to constantly change the brightness of the bars, both individually and collectively. (There were at least forty-two bars, for the record, possibly as many as forty-eight.)

Read  The Motive and the Cue by Jack Thorne - National Theatre

The resulting feeling of discombobulation seemed to be what the show was trying to achieve, demonstrating how life involves dealing with so many variables and things that cannot be predicted with complete accuracy. As such, it has some universality and identifiability in it, but it doesn’t say much beyond a portrayal of life’s struggles, and there isn’t any definitive conclusion to this highly interpretive narrative. A postscript speech and a couple of short videos explaining what had just been witnessed cemented the growing feeling that this was like looking at a painting in an art gallery and then reading the blurb next to it to fully understand the artist’s intentions. It was curious enough to hold my attention throughout – just about.

3 Star Review

Review by Chris Omaweng

Adapt, improvise, overcome. The Ruggeds present a vivid duo of pieces about going with the flow or swimming against the tide.

State Shift is a performance about adaptability, with the solo Turns and the duet Waterbrothers.

As water changes shape, Lee and Roy change their approach to the floor. In the duet Waterbrothers, they challenge each other in a stream of movements in which the younger brother sometimes storms past the older one.

26 – 27 May 2023
https://www.sadlerswells.com/

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Maybe of Interest?

  • La Bamba! at Princess Theatre, Torquay La Bamba! at Princess Theatre, Torquay £13.00
  • Theatrical Make Up Workshop at New Theatre Oxford Theatrical Make Up Workshop at New Theatre Oxford £25.00
  • That'll Be The Day at Theatre Royal Brighton That'll Be The Day at Theatre Royal Brighton £13.00
  • Annie at Milton Keynes Theatre Annie at Milton Keynes Theatre £13.00
  • Santa's New Sleigh at Norman Bragg Studio, Aylesbury Santa's New Sleigh at Norman Bragg Studio, Aylesbury £15.95
  • Maximum Rhythm and Blues with The Manfreds - The 60th Anniversary Tour at Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone Maximum Rhythm and Blues with The Manfreds - The 60th Anniversary Tour at Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone £37.68
  • The McCartney Songbook at Theatre Royal Brighton The McCartney Songbook at Theatre Royal Brighton £13.00
  • Keith Brymer Jones LIVE at Theatre Royal Brighton Keith Brymer Jones LIVE at Theatre Royal Brighton £29.64
  • Irvine Welsh's PORNO at King's Theatre, Glasgow Irvine Welsh's PORNO at King's Theatre, Glasgow £13.00
  • Murder in the Dark at The Alexandra, Birmingham Murder in the Dark at The Alexandra, Birmingham £13.00
  • Most Haunted: The Stage Show at Grand Opera House York Most Haunted: The Stage Show at Grand Opera House York £25.00
Copyright www.LondonTheatre1.com
By using our website you’re confirming that you’re happy to accept our use of cookies.
Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising - About Us - Newsletter - Contact Us