REVIEW: The Circle of Everything at Cockpit Theatre 15 May
'welcome to my world’★★★ ½
The Circle Of Everything is a solo interdisciplinary performance of live painting, aerial dance and digital visuals projected onto a backdrop. The show explores birth, awakening and spirituality in a modern contemporary style.
Originally scored and illustrated, this performance features the making of a live Enso painting; an ancient practice originating from East Asia. A zen circle to be done in one stroke, motion and breath. Once done, the painting is not meant to be changed or altered. The Enso is meant to express the Zen mind. This component in the show emulated a sense of simultaneous creation; giving us both a performance and finished artwork at the end. Balancing anticipation and action; Camila CK plays with movement and staging levels. This show had a ‘welcome to my world’ feel to it.
A criticism of this piece would be that the performance itself was the short duration of thirty minutes. The length combined with the genre confined it to feeling more like a multi-faceted theatrical art installation when it had the potential to become a fuller story. A longer show might give the opportunity for these themes to unfold further and branch into a clearer narrative; making it accessible to reach a variety of audiences.
This was a show that makes good for contemplative conversation. A synchronised piece of entertainment; The Circle Of Everything offers a perspective on the Chaos and Order theory. As well as a physical analogy of the link between the subconscious and conscious brain. This show is dual disciplinary, playful and an exploration of self.
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