Protein: May Contain Food - A Review
Conceived and created by Luca Silvestrini and Orlando Gough. Devised and performed by Sonya Cullingford, Carl Harrison, Martin George, Michael, Henry, Saara Hurme, Donna Lennard, Louise and Matthew Winston at DanceEast.
A fascinating and thought provoking piece performed by four vocalists and four dancers at DanceEast, Protein: May contain food was a wonderful insight into the modern views of food. The setting was simple, a plain backdrop and an amply floor, occasionally with a table in the centre. The seating was what really captured the attention. The audience was sat at tables covered in a variety of different things: feathers, fur, junk food and AstroTurf, so the performance space was like a restaurant and the audience as the diners.
The lighting was used to great effect, often used to highlight the more important aspects of the performance and it was use to light up the food that would be placed in the middle of the table.
The music was all a capella which created a beautiful feel and the often humorous lyrics lightened the mood. There was very little narrative, the scenes connected by the theme of food. The most impressive use of sound was when the actors made the noises of animals destined for the supermarket.
The performance at DanceEast explored our attitude to what we eat but was rather confusing and at times a little difficult to follow. They involved the audience by producing taster dishes every so often and instructing us how to eat them.
There was a small amount of swearing that was rather unexpected but it was overall an impressive performance and well suited to all audiences.
By Jess Marno, East Bergholt High School
