Theatre / Reviews
Review: Mayfest 2018 – Undersong, Bristol Cathedral chapter house
Who needs the latest technology surround sound in your living room when you can sit in a building more than 850 years old and let the sounds made by a choir of nine wandering singers envelop you like a warm embrace?
Undersong by Verity Standen is being performed at three different venues as part of this year’s Mayfest: first at the chapter house at Bristol Cathedral, then at St George’s and finally at Barton Hill Settlement.
Audience members were invited to sit on stools within the chapter house and swivel at will as the nine-strong choir wandered among them, sat on rotating stools, stuck their tongues out with backs against one wall, lay on the floor and turned up the volume to 11 using just their vocal chords.
is needed now More than ever
It was a visceral and life-affirming experience.
With eyes closed, the singing came to the fore, snatches of different vocals coming in and out of earshot depending on which of the singers – seven women and two men – were nearest to you, or coming together as one.
With eyes open, it was possible to catch the reactions of the audience at the very heart of this performance: faces of wonder, of fear and of hilarity.
Undersong is being performed next at St George’s on May 14 and 15, and at Barton Hill Settlement from May 18-20.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
