Press Reviews

“I’m sorry that you’ve forgotten how to be happy”

From the moment Patrycja Kujawska steps on to the stage at the Traverse, the sold out audience are captivated. She stands in silence. Motionless. Nothing happens. Everyone in the audience is silent. Their postures alter, partly from shame in comparison to Patrycja’s and mostly I suspect to ease any rumbles from pre show drinks as they park in the stomach.

I want to get up and hug Patrycja. She seems bereaved, standing on a stage filled with rows of old wooden chairs reminiscent of both old rehearsal rooms and church pews. Here the mood for the evening is set.

“Broken Chords was conceived in late 2004 when I knew my marriage was in trouble, and made in late summer 2005 after a long, painful and very public separation. This piece is full of momentary fusions, fragmentations and chaos” says Artistic Director Charlotte Vincent of the piece. Her painful split informs the majority of the performance and offers a comparison in the shape of a dance company on the verge of collapse. This is delivered with relative success though the ‘no place for a third person in this duet’ survives the cliché due only to Darren Anderson’s comic performance.

With this in mind, the piece is daring and innovative and thrives on a masterful delivery from TC Howard (on the verge of a nervous breakdown) and the dynamic musicians and dancers who share the stage.