In this age of heavy words lightly thrown, the excellent contemporary dance troupe Mal Pelo offer a beautifully-wrought farce, a caustic yet sincere solo, performed by Pep Ramis, that counts on the input of playwright and theatre director Jordi Casanovas and French/Catalan physical theatre troupe Baró d’evel.
Through 60 minutes we follow Ramis on his spiritual journey through the clichéd frostings of multiple religions. Meanwhile, an abusive relationship between human being and landscape emerges, the abstract fancies of imagination versus forgotten real world values.
The sensorially masterful piece is scattered with literary or biblical influences that blow about intimidatingly – yet unobtrusively. It is the image of dust that predominates, although here even the nature of that is in doubt. It coats the stage: delightful like snow, suffocating like smoke, excitable, as the critic Roberto Fratini put it, like the residue of an Alka Seltzer. It offers no resistance or comfort and is rapidly worn down by the pale carbon footprint of the wanderer-dancer, more involved in conversation with ‘the god’ (or himself).
A quote cited on the pamphlet is that of The Waste Land, TS Eliot’s strange poem: “I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” A reflection on value that is perhaps at the heart of the piece; the fear of losing something almost worthless, while something of extraordinary value is being lost.
The mountain, the Truth & the Paradise
by Mal Pelo / Pep Ramis
Mercat de les Flors
until 27.10 6pm
