Out of Synch Theatre, Decalages

Review in Issue 10-2 | Summer 1998

Out of Synch theatre is formed from the highly acclaimed Theatre Decale. Decalages is the result of a collaboration with director Marcus Kupferblum and it is performed by Gerard Bell, Maria Lloyd and Alan Fairbairn. The end result is a darkly comic mix of precise physical performance with an imaginative reinterpretation of classic texts.

The show is made up of scenes and sketches, wherein the performers explore and expose human foibles and frailties, in particular cultural quirks and man's uneasy relationship with the world of inanimate objects. Thus, it ricochets from an idiosyncratic interpretation of Ibsen's A Doll’s House to a melodramatic King Lear, and also features poetry by William Blake, tea bags, feathers and a grand finale played to Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Plus, the show contains one of the most perfect couple of minutes in performance history – Alan Fairbaim's ‘Dog Poem'.

Having previously seen the show in a cabaret space at the Sussex Arts Club, it was heartening to see it work equally well in a traditional theatre venue. Out Of Synch have achieved a great deal in the short time they have been working together, a testament to their individual performance skills and to their compatibility as an ensemble. It would be good to see new companies such as this receive ongoing funding. Far too many promising companies fail to develop due to lack of support. Out of Synch deserve better than that.

Presenting Artists
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. May 1998

This article in the magazine

Issue 10-2
p. 24