OBSERVER: The Portrait
Physical comedy seems to have become a forgotten art but in The Portrait, Emilie Bloom and Tim Sneddon capture the quintessential humour that can be found in a look or a gesture.
Two attendants are monitoring the room where a new portrait is about to be unveiled. A crowd is about to arrive.
A simple sign alerts us to when the public will enter. In the interim, every foible, quirk, obsession and compulsion of the two attendants becomes more animated as they try to maintain their dignity while becoming increasingly annoyed with each other.
The work is a delight.
Creator and director, Claire Bartholomew, has built the momentum of the piece which rises to a crescendo and culminates in the unveiling of the portrait but not before a monumental disaster has been averted.
The counterpoint to the slapstick nature of the work is a satire of our pretensions and prejudices as individuals.
The work is very relatable because we can see ourselves in the artists, in their desire to do well and in the idiosyncrasies that make us all human. And through it all, not a discernible word is spoken.
This is communication at its best.
Review by David McLean