Alter Ego and 'Jam’

Press, 25 November 1983, Page 4

Alter Ego and 'Jam’

Alter Ego and “Japonica Jam,” funded by the Arts Employment Scheme, at the State Trinity Theatre, November 24 to 26. Running time: 8.30 p.m. to 10.15 p.m. Reviewed by Gerrit Bahlman.

Two performing groups joined forces to present a show which embraced jazz dance and a satirical revue.

The dance group, Alter Ego,- consists of four dancers — Denise Clarke, Sharon Ford, Marianne Wilkinson, and Robert Wells. The group formed when The Moving Company entered the P.E.P. scheme and left employed members of that company high and dry. Those members formed Alter Ego,

The group performed five sequences and employed a tight choreographic style with contained groupings. The exception to this was a tap dance routine by Robert Wells which provided an interesting contrast.

The three female dancers worked together in the majority of the sequences employing repetitive and

percussive music by groups such as Talking Heads and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Movements were small and contained. There was a reliance on misdirected attention produced by intense eye focus. This developed abruptness and surprise but never a sense of explosiveness. The excitement generated by contrasting the deliberate with the explosive is a potential source of development for this young and experimental company. ‘‘Japonica Jam” is a clever if unsophisticated revue with nuclear holocaust as its theme. This may not appeal as the light fare for revue but the wit and energy of the performance makes it fun. The black theme is dealt with in a didactic fashion and there is a limit to the polish evident. Many of the ideas appear partially developed and are carried over by a strong sense of commitment rather than merit.

Original music and song with piano and guitar are used to good effect but little attention is given to balance

and consequently the guitar is frequently lost. “They’re Planning to Destroy the World” and “Won’t You Join Us (at thee Maelstrom Hotel)” are two of the original songs. One very effective skit involved an Elimination Arms Race between U.S. and THEM. The resultant card game traced moments of nuclear tension between the two Powers from World War II to the present.

Advertising jingles were a common ploy in satirising the activities of the superpowers. One illustration involved a famous brand of toothpaste which used strontium 90. because it “lasts and lasts and it really does get in.”

With clear and incisive direction and some judicial pruning of the script this revue could be developed into a very effective and entertaining package. The company of performers is Priscilla Clark, Michele Harrodon-Graham, Denis McGrath, and Mark Di Somma.