Described by its director Annabel Arden of Theatre de Complicite as a set of gestural poems, Out of Here rushes through a series of electric and inspirational images with a passion awe-inspiring as it is exciting.
The show approaches the theme of escape from various different viewpoints – from scenes of a 1930s gangster joint to a Robinson Crusoe style adventure story – showing people on the run, escaping from and to love and loved ones. Control and escape in all its manifestations are played with a deep and hugely watchable irony. Sometimes presenting a Kafkaesque journey through the landscapes of the mind, CandoCo even use such theatrical clichés as dry ice and hissing at the baddy to good effect, carrying them off with integrity.
The choreography reveals strength in its simplicity and takes a natural movement, such as a head shake, into a whole plethora of movement variations. Natural relaxed movements flow into each other so simply and subtly that it is easy to forget the piece is so rigorously choreographed. The Complicite trademarks are there but the humour, individuality, and strength of each performer (Celeste Dandeker, Charlotte Darbyshire, Jon French, Pedro Machado, Kuldip Singh-Barmi, Sue Smith and David Toole) is what gives the piece its originality and power. The eye contact (with each other and the audience), the characterisation, and the huge irony with which the story and the movement is played out, gives ensemble theatre a new life. Fantastic.