Between the Pages: Three sisters, a winged boy and a lighthouse
Surreal doesn't begin to describe it. SCRAP Performance Group's world premiere Between the Pages envelops audience members in another world the moment they step over the threshold of St. Andrew's Chapel.
Video clips are set over doorways and into stained-glass panels. A table is prepared for a picnic. Four dancers are statue-still in middle of the church as audience members file in and find seats in the built-in pews off to the sides.
Soon the lights dim and an accordion player crosses across the sanctuary. The dancers begin walking, stretching, jumping as a strobe light blinks on and off. Choreographed by Myra Bazell and Silvana Cardell, the movement also has a dancer rolling precariously on a set of stairs, and man performing a lot of balancing tricks on a small wheeled cart.
The multimedia experience is spectacular. The music, lighting and especially the video installation are fascinating, especially set against the elaborate carvings, gold leaf, paintings and stained glass of the church.
The performance is based on The Three Incestuous Sisters, a visual novel by Audrey Niffenegger. I avoided reading the book, and found the story very difficult to follow. But there's so much to take in that it hardly matters.
That said, Between the Pages is not for everyone. It's more than a little bit trippy, and some may be uncomfortable seeing such an edgy performance in a church.
- Ellen Dunkel