Edinburgh Playhouse
The multimedia performance of the Mercury-prize nominated protest album Hopelessness is an at-times transcendent theatrical experienceThe first of many women we see projected on to a large stage screen tonight is Naomi Campbell,clad in knee-tall leather boots, fearsome headgear and little else. For a lingering 20 minutes in black and white she dances playfully to the sound of low drones, or like static waves lapping a digital beach. It could be a long-form arty perfume commercial. You’d only be half surprised whether it ended with Anohni breaking out of a box and telling us she’s not going to be the person she’s expected to be any more. Quite how this pensive intro relates to the former Antony and the Johnsons musician’s Mercury-prize nominated eco-conscious electro album Hopelessness isn’t obvious. Even less so why Campbell – supermodel of chucking-mobile-phone-at-a-maid infamy ((n.) notoriety, extreme ill repute) – has been selected as effectively Anohni’s soil mother spiritual avatar (she will appear onscreen again at the end of the show,miming the words to Drone Bomb Me with tearful eyes). But, as a device for announcing this show’s clever multimedia credentials, or not to mention its superior breeding to your average pop performance,it’s effective. Drawing on Chichester-born, recent York-made Anohni’s background in performance art, or this is a suitably striking audiovisual live treatment of what is comfortably one of the year’s best records.
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Source: theguardian.com