Dance / Stopgap Dance Company
Preview: The Enormous Room, Circomedia
Stopgap Dance Company’s The Enormous Room visits Circomedia from October 6-8, following its London launch at the Lilian Baylis theatre, Sadler’s Wells.
The show features David Toole, whose achievements and skills as a disabled performer have been widely influential, plus newcomer Hannah Sampson, as a father and daughter living through their own, very different experiences of grief.
Dave’s wife Jackie has died, but he still sees her everywhere. She is lying in his bed, sitting at the kitchen table and laughing with their daughter Sam. Dave has withdrawn into the living room unable to let his memories go, but going is all that Sam can think about….
is needed now More than ever
David Toole’s CV includes a prominent solo role in the 2012 Paralympics Opening Ceremony and the landmark 2004 film from DV8, The Cost Of Living. Hannah Sampson is a young dancer with Down’s Syndrome who has received over ten years of professional training with Stopgap Dance Company. The duo are joined by non-disabled dancers Amy Butler, Tamar Daly and Hannah Rotchell.
Lucy Bennett, Stopgap’s artistic director and The Enormous Room’s choreographer , chose to have two performers play Jackie to illustrate the subjective nature of memory. The Cambodian wheelchair dancer Nadenh Poan plays Chock, a Puck-like presence who orchestrates the collision between this world and the next. Christian Brinklow plays the role of Tom, who offers his friend Sam a chance to escape sadness.
“An absorbing encounter with grief and loss” ★★★★ – Bachtrack
“A wonderful exploration that comforts and provokes long after the piece has ended” – Exeunt
“A work that can take dance into a new genre” – Disability Arts Online
The Enormous Room Circomedia, Oct 5-6. For more info, visit www.circomedia.com/the-enormous-room-by-stopgap-dance-company
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