Drawing a fine line between dance and physical theatre, choreographer Ben Wright creates an accessible work, perfectly loyal to its original intent. Commissioned by the Rural Touring Dance Initiative, Warwick Arts Centre and DanceEast, Point of Echoesstems from a three-year project aimed at supporting the making and touring of contemporary dance in rural areas.
To facilitate this purpose, Wright's evocative piece relies heavily on the use of spoken word and a relatable body language that all will find easy to read. Will Holt's design is equally adaptable, with a round wooden platform in the centre of a traverse stage, to recall the base of a lighthouse.
It's the year 1978 and Eric Valentine (Thomas Heyes) has been hired to assist Bernard Humphries (Dom Czapski) in maintaining the Echo Point lighthouse, somewhere off the coast of England. He's a simple-minded young man and his naivety clashes with Bernard's short-tempered mood and darker behaviour. After a slower first act in which we get to know the characters, the second half finally takes off and the plot offers some gripping twists and turns.
