Actors with yellow oilskin coats move around the stage, amusingly making sounds with anything to hand, letting it go and moving on. Focused action gently begins, allowing the eyes to wander and the ears to acclimatise, until the only woman on the stage (Yuka Hyoudo) comes to centre-front with a large artist's pad. Her whole being engages with open-eyed invitation. As she turns the pages, theatrically, with winning gentleness, instructions for the culture-setting of this Japanese show unfold. Male members of the cast gather behind her, exploring the set and each other's activities. She joins them, and there follows a skilful, subtly powerful, visual play of shadows and integrated sound, of food and space-sharing manners - full of insight and compassionate observation.

Human actions are held in well-developed technically intricate rhythms. Music is adeptly-composed, built from a combination of sounds. The actors play it using their bodies, the set, anything upon the set and a few conventional instruments. They use voice-sampling to create music for a superb dance piece - amusing and amazing. The intricately-detailed rehearsed pieces include places for improvisation and audience incorporation - non-threatening and great fun.

The set pieces are meticulously-timed quintets of facial communications, high physical awareness, connectedness, musicality and startling visual images. Direct engagement is joyful, even when looking at serious social issues. A piece developed around The Television touches on torture. Rhythms played out through drumming on various surfaces converge in beating on the television-head of one of the actors. It is physically powerful and comic, but the plight of the person beneath the image creates pathos as well as laughter.

Technology is used to enhance skilful performance and to highlight 21st Century dilemmas. Each performer is equally talented. Understanding, feelings and incomprehension are visually shared in perfect timing, creating a sense of deep relaxation, and allowing kindness to bubble to the surface.

Company The Original Tempo are honed instruments of powerful communication - provoking sharpening up, releasing laughter from hidden places, and freeing thinking. They allow personal observation of the subtle layers of thought to seep through their body-language, freeing-up a feeling of humanity. In everyday things they find joy to share.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Yuka Hyoudo - actor. Yukihide Hirabayashi - actor. Shuichi Sakaguchi - actor. Katsunori Takayama - guitarist. Yasuaki Uematsu - dancer.

Company Credits: Writer - Worry Kinoshita. Auteur - Taishi Huji. Auteur - Zyunichi Ynagida. Auteur - Kiyotaka Yoshimitsu. Director - Worry Kinoshita. Choreographer - Takumi Kotoba. Visual Designer - Kiyotaka Yoshimitsu. Lighting Designer - Naoko Kato. Sound Designer - Rui Kojima. Technical Operator - uncredited. Graphic Designer - Yuya Okada. Graphic Designer - Misa Miyaaki. Stage Director - Koji Takeyoshi. Producer - Mea Inoue. Company - The Original Tempo. Website - www.cursor.jp/original_tempo.

END

(c) Lilian Kennedy Brzoska 2009

reviewed Sunday 16 August 09 / Sweet ECA, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com