NAF: STILTED

Presented by Oddbody Theatre, Stilted reappears on the 2010 National Arts Festival after topping last year’s Fringe box office as the no.1 selling physical theatre show. Directed by Andrew Buckland, it is choreographed and written by Richard Antrobus who also appears in the production alongside Tristan Jacobs.

It is an extraordinary piece of physical theatre making use of dance, gymnastics, trampolining, comedy and stilt walking.

A “serious” actor is preparing for his day with vocal warm-ups, although he doesn’t spend very long at it nor is very enthusiastic about it (wannabee actors, take note that the real thing takes a LOT longer!). Into Actor’s theorising and academic domain, erupts the stilt-walking Clown – well, actually he doesn’t really erupt because measuring at about 9 feet tall with his stilts and hat on, it’s a mission for him to get through the door, to start off with!

What follows is a highly amusing repartee where Clown (Richard Antrobus) with his standard over-the-top and cheesy gags – mostly about his height -counters Actor’s (Tristan Jacobs) disdain and barely concealed contempt that what Clown is doing can’t possibly be “real” theatre.

The set comprises the large trampoline, a bunk bed high above a settee, a very tall table and chair - high enough for Clown to sit on when on his stilts - and three children’s camping chairs, made all the more diminutive by Clown’s height.

Initially, Jacobs is simply a foil for Antrobus’s antics and these are considerably impressive. When Antrobus moved on stilts towards the trampoline and not only got onto it but bounced around as if it was the most natural thing in the world, I thought: “OK, I’ve now seen everything!” Mind you, that was only after I felt it was safe to breathe again once he’d finished doing somersaults, twists and other tomfoolery, and was safely back at ground level!

The moral of the story here is that in the real world – particularly in South Africa – there are simply not enough good dramatic opportunities for actors and in order to survive financially, many have to turn their talents to other skills like stilt-walking, juggling and gymnastics. This does not lessen their capacity to be acknowledged as a ”real” actor. In fact, it requires a lot more focus to “fool” around - there is so much that can go wrong. For example, if you want to go leaping around on a trampoline on stilts, the chances of your breaking your leg increases a hundredfold!

Once Actor begins to engage more with Clown, who’s now removed his stilts, things get really hectic and what follows is a breathtaking display of physical theatre. This is a really good Festival piece and highly recommended – Caroline Smart