Songs of the Wayfarer, Claire Cunningham
Claire Cunningham in Songs of the Wayfarer © Sven Hagolani
I think it will be a long time before I see a dancer hand homemade biscuits out to audience members again.
As moving on crutches requires more energy than simply walking, acclaimed disabled artist Claire Cunningham has interwoven breaks seamlessly into her work via the loose narrative of going on a hike. A pre-walk safety talk doubled up as an accessibility guide to help us understand the light and sound intensities we’d be experiencing in the piece. A short water break encouraged us to stretch and “have a power nap”, while a coffee break half way through her climb up the middle of the seats became a group picnic featuring the aforementioned sweet treats. All of this came from an intention to make the work as accessible as possible, with the additional inclusions of different styles of seating (including cushions on stage) and ear defenders on arrival.
The piece also allowed Claire to indulge in her other talents. As a classically trained singer, the piece was interspersed with extracts of Gustav Mahler’s haunting ‘Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen’ (translated with lyrical feeling by a BSL interpreter).
Claire Cunningham in Songs of the Wayfarer © Sven Hagolani
Spaced between this were short extracts of dance. During these, her crutches were waved through the air, placed at wide, precarious angles as she stepped over an imagined rocky path, and propped under her arm as she rotated slowly upwards. They also pushed around and reshaped fabric cascading from the ceiling (the hanging half was used to project video and subtitles) before she transformed it into a voluminous skirt. It was a shame there weren’t more pure dance sections in this because the shapes and ideas Cunningham created were fantastic.
Also underused was a jagged tower of crutches which caught my attention as I sat down. I had looked forward to seeing how it would be integrated into the dance, and was disappointed to discover it was used minimally and only to be crawled through.
While thought provoking and inventive, Songs of the Wayfarer had a gentleness, experimental edge and slower pace that may suit the more intrepid theatre explorer.
★★★★
Songs of the Wayfarer by Claire Cunningham
Lilian Baylis Studio, London / 4 December 2024
Press ticket
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