(Chapters of Loss ... Review
by Dr Verne Rowin Munsamy)
During the 14 years that I lectured at UKZN, I was fortunate
enough to supervise almost a dozen student productions that toured to the
National Arts Festival.
Without fail, our venue was always The Rehearsal Room in Settlers Monument. This venue holds the memories of my ingrained training of young performers and as I entered the venue, I couldn't help but be whisked on a nostalgic journey back to those days of touring with some of today's biggest names in the industry as their faces flashed in my mind.
When I was cherry-picking shows I glanced upon Remnant, a dance and physical theatre piece and was immediately draw to it like a moth to a flame, for several reasons; the venue, the allure of dance and the storyline. Remnant is a conceived, choreographed, dance and immortalize by the talented Kayla van der Merwe and Kirsten Shouw and their production company, Tumble Inn. When interviewing them, they divulged that this piece is inspired by their own grief experienced by the loss of Kayla's grandfather and Kristen's dad. They wish to share with the world the grief experienced by daughters but also the light of hope that creeps in slowly as time passes.
The music composition by Gideon Birulu is enticing and perfectly suited to the gentle, reminiscent choreography. The dance is situated around three hanging scrim cloths that are symbolic of the veil between the living and the dead. The lights were mainly in hues of blue which was significant in representing the cold, the starkness that is felt after death. I loved the shadow effects on the scrim cloth and the way the light danced off them. The scrims moved on a trellis to create different spaces and shapes. The scrim sometimes masked some of the choreography and created this space between life, death and persistent memories held onto by the dancers.
The choreography was not fast-paced but gentle with simplicity like the mourning period that leaves us questioning and aloof from the rest of the world. The two performers were magnificent in the sharing of this story and their own experiences. Death and grief is something that we all experience and I couldn't help but be swept away by this emotionally-evocative piece.
The dancing was created from genuine emotion and that made this piece even more rewarding to watch. I felt a deep sense of compassion for the dancers through this choreography.
The story in the dialogue is that of pain, anger, loss, trying to be there for someone through their grief, sadness, remembrance and of hope. The dancers say, "hope found me, lifted my chin to look up at the stars". This is the main underlying message of the piece.
The only prop on set is a chair. This chair, apart from being used as a tool and object for the choreography was also representative of the chair that one sits on while grieving, to hold the waiting body that's hoping for release from grief. The empty chair exemplified the space left behind by the dead. And lastly, it served as a bridge between what was, what is and what is yet to come. A bridge between love that was and life that is.
I was engrossed in this story and choreography and it reminded me of my own loss and grief and how I too found hope again, or if found me in the darkness. I thoroughly enjoyed this concept and execution through dance and physical theatre. Well done to these young artists and theatre-makers. Their future is bright. - Dr Verne Rowin Munsamy
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