Sans Objet @ Theatre Royal
One of the most bizarre pieces of performance art I’ve ever seen
The opening minutes of Aurélien Bory’s Sans Objet quickly established how difficult it would be for me to convey in words. I would describe it as Wall-E meets Cirque Du Soleil, but I don’t think that quite does it justice. An amalgamation of dance, acrobatics, theatre, and what can only be described as robotics moved seamlessly together to create one of the most bizarre pieces of performance art I’ve ever seen.
Sans Objet is built around a gigantic robotic arm, originally used in automobile production in the 1970's, and now appropriated and remote controlled live by Tristan Baudoin. In this strange tale of man and machine, the towering arm bends, twists, grips, and lifts both huge metal panels and the two actors, Olivier Alenda and Olivier Boyer, who seem to defy gravity at times. The relationship depicted between the actors and the robot evolved throughout, but ultimately the audience was left with the sense of the machine’s superior control. It seemed to somehow orchestrate the entire thing by itself, undoubtedly becoming the star of the show, and prophesizing a future in which our lives will become increasingly entwined with the mechanised world.
The use of light really stood out for me in this performance, with hand-held and stage lights constantly shifting to create intricate shadow and movement. The closing sequence was stunningly beautiful, in which a dark plastic sheet was strung up almost to act as a stage curtain, and then rapidly shot through and slashed, with blinding white light shining through the gashes to create a lighting effect that felt utterly sublime.
Whilst being slightly odd and slow moving at times, I can only feel admiration for this performance. The crafting and choreography of the machine itself can only have been slow and painstaking, and as the three performers took their bows, I was struck by the immense sense of pride that was deservedly written all over their faces.
