Something in the Air: Reviews
"Long before the vogue for site-responsive theatre and shows that are ever more interactive, multisensory and intimate, there was Oily Cart, a remarkable and pioneering company whose work with children and those with complex disabilities has always been way ahead of the theatrical game. Over the years, I've seen this company turn a school hall into a tented Aladdin's cave of bright jewelled colours and transform swimming pools into playgrounds of the imagination.
Their latest piece – created for children with disabilities or autistic-spectrum disorders, and cannily commissioned by the Manchester international festival – is a kinaesthetic adventure for an audience of 12 at a time. Created in collaboration with aerialists Ockham's Razor, it conjures a forest-like setting where the sound of wildlife mingles with eerie music as the cast fly through the air like exotic birds. We watch from flower-covered chairs that rise up into the air, swing, turn and bounce up and down. We feel as if we are flying, too, freed from the restraints of our bodies and gravity itself. The show is truly participatory, unlike so many others in which it seems as if the cast are having more fun than the audience.
There are characters who sing and play (in all senses of the word), but the emphasis is very much on spectacle, as leaves flutter to the ground and a strange silver creature tumbles on a rope. There is plenty to reflect on, too, not least in the slivers of mirror – rather like thin slices of moon – hanging from the roof that are then detached and used to show the children their own central place in this strange, forest world.
The pace of the piece is meditative, but there is comedy as well: as red balls are dropped from the ceiling and bounce on the floor, their size and depth gradually increase, and our chairs rise and fall with them.
There is much, too, about the need to work together and the way that successful
flying requires trust and support and the help of others in a show that genuinely
integrates circus into the performance. Where Oily Cart has gone before, mainstream
theatre for adults often follows a couple of years later. So expect flying seats
at the National sometime around 2011 – but for the moment, watch Oily
Cart with wonder and admiration."
- Lyn Gardner, The Guardian, July 2009
"It was only born in 2007, but already the biennial Manchester International
Festival (the second edition of which ends today) has established itself as
a very bold alternative to the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival.
With its strong emphasis on new work and its marked taste for combining art
forms (for instance, there's still time to catch the final performance of solo
works by JS Bach being played in a breathtaking new chamber hall created by
Zaha Hadid Architects), the MIF is a remarkably distinctive new kid on the block.
One of the elements which makes the festival so distinctive is the MIF Creative
series, which takes the arts into the heart of the community. This is not a
worthy operation in "social inclusion" to satisfy politicians and
Arts Council bods, but rather a programme of high-quality art works, as can
be witnessed in the commissioning of Something In The Air, the latest piece
by remarkable children's theatre specialists Oily Cart, in collaboration with
leading aerial theatre company Ockham's Razor.
Oily Cart (who tour their work to Scotland regularly) produce shows for pre-school
children (including babies) and children and young adults with profound and
complex learning disabilities. Something In The Air is the most ambitious piece
they have created in their 28-year history. For two-and-a-half weeks, performers
from the company were embedded (in brightly costumed character, seemingly living
in a carefully created theatre set) in a number of special needs schools in
Manchester. The show itself takes us into a magical forest. Buckled carefully
into brilliantly designed seats (think a cross between a well-supported chair
and a hammock), the children are raised mechanically into the air, all the better
to meet the characters who tumble from the tree tops.
Many of the distinctive features of Oily Cart's past work - the beautifully
integrated, gentle live music; the gorgeous set and costumes; the touching personalisation
of the piece to each child - appear in this show. The great strength of this
production, however, is that, as it draws upon Ockham's Razor's spectacular
aerial skills, everything remains consistent with the delightful alternative
world writer-director Tim Webb has envisioned for the children. I commented
before about "discerning audiences", and children with complex disabilities
are among the most discerning. If they are bored or distracted, they will leave
you in no doubt about that fact. It is to the great credit of Oily Cart and
Ockham's Razor (and, of course, their patron, the Manchester International Festival)
that the children I had the privilege to join at a performance of Something
In The Air were observably excited, transfixed and comforted by the show. Let's
hope it isn't too long before we see this remarkable production in Scotland."
- Mark Brown, Sunday Herald, July 2009