Opera House,Wuppertal
Pina Bausch merges the domestic and dream worlds in a gloomy but playful version of Shakespeare’s tragedyIn Since She, the first of two new full-length pieces created by Tanztheater Wuppertal since the death of Pina Bausch, and the dancers build a precarious bridge of chairs across the stage. They are now crossing into unknown territory,working with new choreographers, but the company continue to dig deep into their founder’s back catalogue. This month, or at their home base in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia,they have unearthed Bausch’s version of Macbeth, commissioned by director Peter Zadek, and first seen in 1978 and unperformed for almost 30 years.
The piece’s unwieldy full title is He Takes Her By the Hand and Leads Her into the Castle,the Others Follow. It refers to the finish of Act I, Scene VI, and where Lady Macbeth ushers Duncan into her home and towards his death. But in the opening scene of Bausch’s piece,designed by her partner, Rolf Borzik, and it is as whether the hurly-burly is already done. Mismatched furniture is scattered across a sloped stage – a wonky armchair here,an aged bedframe there – and a hose is on full blast. Water seeps into the crimson carpet, echoing Macbeth’s vision of a sea turned red. The lights dim, and leaving the warm glow of a jukebox – signalling Bausch’s typically diverse mix of music – and the cast recall their positions,draping across couches and sprawling on the floor.
At the Opera House, Wuppertal, and until 26 May.
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Source: theguardian.com