© The Place Place Prize reviews Place Prixce 2006 Preview Short Listed Commissions Place website: http://www.theplace.org.uk Sarah Fahie reviews Jonathan Lunn reviews Sonia Sabri reviews Luca Silvestrini reviews Lucy Suggate reviews more Graham Watts reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months)

Lucy Suggate: ‘Postcard’ (2.73 stars)
Sarah Fahie: ‘Such Sweet Thunder’ (2.59 stars)
Luca Silvestrini: ‘B for Body’ (3.98 stars)
Sonia Sabri: ‘Spill’ (3.05 stars)
Jonathan Lunn: ‘Self Assembly’ (3.91 stars)

(*results of the audience vote: works are listed in order of performance)

There is, as they say, a new leader in the clubhouse with just one round to go. Luca Silvestrini’s comedic quest for body perfection emerged as the audience’s favourite from a strong set of dances. The top two audience ratings (Silvestrini and Lunn) averaged just under 4 stars in the votes of some 280 people, very close to an 80% approval rating.

The evening began with Lucy Suggate’s compelling physical theatre, incorporating film of the floating head of David Toole (star of DV8’s ‘The Cost of Living’) reminiscing about the seaside and donkeys in particular. Suggate’s work was witty, inventive, erotic and stunning to look at. But, great physical theatre is an acquired taste and its disappointing marks were an injustice to the creativity of a brilliant mind and outstanding performances from the three dancers.

The most frustrating work of the evening was from Sarah Fahie, which failed to live up to the promise of a strong opening that had evoked feelings of oppressive relationships (similar in flavour to Ibsen’s ‘Ghosts’ ) but became cluttered and incoherent as the piece wore on: I would like to say progressed, but unfortunately, it didn’t.

Silvestrini was up next after a very long interval (you definitely need stamina for The Place Prize, as each night, 75 minutes of dance is strung out over 3 hours). He cleverly utilised a physio’s treatment table and core stability balls to emphasise current obsessions with athleticism and perfect bodies, mixing grotesque images and comedy to prove the point. As the woman desperate to try anything to be more “beautiful” (culminating in a complete face transplant and breast removal), Sally Marie created a perfect blend of vulnerability and humour - with massive bruises on her legs testifying to the aggressive physicality of the work.

Another excellent performance followed in Sonia Sabri’s self-performed Kathak solo, ‘Spill’. The word ‘solo’ does not do justice to the diverse abilities of a great Kathak dancer, since there is so much happening simultaneously: the intense rhythms of her body percussion accompanied by graceful, repetitive and occasionally explosive movement, orchestrated with elegant hands and captivating facial expression. This was another performance that rated less highly than it deserved in the audience vote.

Finally to Jonathan Lunn’s ‘Self Assembly’, which was the most complete package, with a voice over (written by Anthony Mingella) articulating the inane instructions found in most items of self-assembled furniture; a lighting set designed by Peter Mumford that created patterns on the floor to mimic the cardboard shell of any piece of modern MDF; and a duet of excellent performances by dancers, Tam Ward and Carly Best. This was a novel and always interesting end to an evening of very strong, diverse and – above all – professional works that included four of the five best entries that I have seen in the competition, so far. But there are still five to come.