How entertaining can a richly varied performance of drumming be? If the show is as energetic and containing as many styles & forms as SHIFTING SANDS it can be very enjoyable.
Taikoz is an Australian ensemble that performs wadaiko, a Japanese style of drumming. Shifting Sand was written by Graham Hilgendorf, who is also a performing member of Taikoz. Artistic director Ian Cleworth has done a wonderful job, and he also performs. Also appearing are Kerryn Joyce, Kevin Man, Tom Royce-Hampton, Kenichi Koizumi and Sophia Ang. They all make skilful and engaging contributions.
Most Australians’ experience of Japanese music is probably through the soundtracks of Shintaro, Monkey Magic or a Kurosawa film. To place yourself in one of these could be a good place to derive context and relate to Taikoz’s performance of SHIFTING SANDS.
The stage was sparsely and effectively set with three beautiful drums in a simply lit black & grey environment. A smoke machine was wafting grey smoke up and across the stage creating a cloudy, misty ambience. Unfortunately, this set off the smoke alarms and the Glen St Theatre had to be evacuated. The fire brigade arrived and quickly gave the all clear and the theatre was re-occupied. The smoke alarm sounded again to the chagrin of the audience but there was no second evacuation.
The show opened with an explanation of the formation and intentions of Taikoz and a brief outline of the themes of ocean, waves and the marine environment. Understanding the story represented may enhance the audience’s appreciation but there is ample entertainment within the production to allow one to enjoy the intrinsic spectacle.
The performance commenced with gentle rumbling with spectral figures creeping across the dimly lit stage. The figures start ringing, dinging and clicking small instruments with increasing intensity before loud and dramatic drumming bursts out into the theatre.
The second scene starts with chanting, and gradually flute playing, bell ringing and dancing are added to the blend. The lighting has gone from monochrome to a brighter yellow hue adding a carnival cheeriness. Large drums are wheeled onto stage or carried on attached to bamboo poles.
All these different components are aesthetically pleasing. The drums come in a variety of styles but are all beautifully made. The polished wood and the decorative touches make them artworks in themselves. The stands that some of the drums are placed on are functional but also have a stark beauty. The ropes that lash the bamboo poles to other drums are highly crafted and ornate. The costumes would not look out of place in an exhibition. There is also dancing which at times is very stylised and at other times full of bounce and energy. All these different components create a subtle beauty and harmony.
Of course the drumming itself is the central feature and within the drumming there is a variety of styles, dynamics and rhythms.
The style and form of the drummers’ striking the various drums adds to the theatricality of the performance. Often the drummers take a dramatic stance, facing away from the audience and forcefully striking the drums overhead but at other times they are sitting or kneeling or standing side-on, depending on the size of the drum and how it is required to be struck. The striking of the drums can be from short rapid strikes or large flamboyant swings and these are mixed together with slow and fast rhythms and loud and soft volumes. Often whisper like delicacy is used by the drummers.
The four other scenes have quite different aspects. Brass plates are used like cymbals but are often brushed together rather than clashed together. This is probably the funniest scene but humour is also used in other parts of the performance. There is one scene that is predominantly singing. Elsewhere a bow is drawn across a cymbal and later five large drums are set like a rugby back-line and the sound is passed from one drum to another.
This complex and enjoyable work opened at the Glen St Theatre, Belrose on the 17th May and runs until 26th May, 2012.
© Mark Pigott
19th May, 2012
Tags: Sydney Theatre Reviews- SHIFTING SANDS, Taikoz Ensemble, Sydney Arts Guide, Mark Pigott.