Review-LEO-Hong Kong Arts Festival
1-3-13
By: Meaghan McGurgan
Tonight I went to see Circle of Eleven's LEO. I did not have the best of times. Not because of the show but because of my seat and the girl sitting to my left. I was sitting in the cheap seats of the Studio Theatre at the Hong Kong Cultural Center. I didn't see a problem with these seats at first. Those of you who have been to this theatre before know that this theatre is a relatively small black box. Our seats ended up being on the house left balcony. I have never sat here before. Little did I know when booking that these seats were partial view for the performance. Bummer. Anytime the girl to my left would lean forward I couldn't see the film screen at all. Which made reviewing this show particularly difficult. If you are going to purchase tickets to this production DO NOT buy the 200HKD tickets. They are not worth the money you are saving. Go ahead and pay the extra 50 bucks and get to see the whole stage.
The best thing about the performance was the actor, William Bonnet. He was amazing. The sheer athleticism it took to put on a show like this was impressive. He is the entire show. As an audience member you are in awe of a performer who can take on a role so physically demanding and excel at it.The concept of LEO is pretty simple. It's flipping the perspective of the scene. Not from a traditional theatrical sense, like from another character's perspective, but rather taking the room and flipping it on its side. You're able to see the flipping by watching the physical action on one side of the stage and the flipped perspective on the screen next to it.
You read in the program that the show originally was a 5 minute dance performance. It was a big success in Belgium and was later transformed into a one hour performance for a festival. This was my one complaint with the show. It seemed like one gimmick that was extended a little too long. The show is about an hour and ten minutes of Bonnet repeating a lot of the same actions. Something was missing from the show, as it felt like it dragged a bit in the middle. It kinda felt like we were watching the same bit over and over. Once we got past the middle of the show where he transformed the space into another place via visual art, the show improved. I liked the ending best. The last moment in the show was beautifully staged.
I thought the sound design for the show was excellent. I really enjoyed what they did with "I've Got the World on a String" by Frank Sinatra. The book ending of the show with 2 versions of the same song really helped tell the story. People of all backgrounds will enjoy LEO as it's a physical theatre piece. Kids will also enjoy the visual trickery in the movement.
LEO is playing at the Hong Kong Cultural Center through March 3rd. For more information click here.
Comments
jude
I think it was your seat that made the show bad. The sightlines up there would have been terrible. Sitting up front the show was excellent. A bit long in the middle but good fun.
03 March 2013