Theatre review: Sonder

Like tiny figures trapped in a snow globe or, more accurately, a cube, the performers in this well conceived physical show march through the city, steely-eyed stares fixed on the mid-distance.

Star rating: ***

Venue: Theatre Arts Exchange (Venue 116)

Fenced in by the four sides of the square stage, around which we stand, they pace, going everywhere and yet nowhere.

As soon as brief connections are made, with arms grabbed and bodies swung, they are destroyed again. This is a place where no-one can be with anyone who wants to be with them, and the to and fro of taciturn emotions is mimicked by the pull and push of the fluid movement.

Four chairs become the changing cityscape, ever changing and yet always the same. A man talks about a desire to isolate himself from the crowds, and yet elsewhere there’s a constant searching and failing to find something more. Intimate and imaginatively choreographed, it’s a pocket-sized piece that clearly conveys a simple but recognisable view of modern metropolitan life. Finally, a New Year’s Eve celebration brings balloons – splashes of colour in this otherwise monotone land – and a brief moment of warmth and togetherness. But then, the morning after, the party over, and the man sits alone and contemplating, isolated once more.

Until 18 August. Today, 3pm.

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