![]() The staging is deceptively minimal with simple objects and actions becoming large metaphors. Floating somewhere between musical theatre, drama and classical music, the combination is unique but accessible and haunting. ![]() The Year of the Cello was created by writer/director Majorie Chan ( I Call Myself Princess, A Synonym for Love) and composer Njo Kong Kie ( The Rhubarb Festival, Mr Shi and His Lover, No Strings (Attached), Infinity) and it is a fortuitous collaboration. Our love was so strong it stopped them in the midst of their curse-making. Suffice to say that it is moving in that mysterious way that only opera, or a great pop song, or a oblique poem can be, directed at the soul instead of the heart. And it needs to be teased out in real time without spoilers. The plotline is simple and laced with necessary ambiguity. She fills the void of lost love with words and movement, he cradles his cello before caressing it into becoming his voice. It would be, the sonics are gorgeous, but it would be a shame to miss the range of emotions that Fu conjures physically, and the subtle reactions and interactions that Holt lets flit across his face. We had been told that this is a 'relaxed' performance and that if we want to close our eyes and just let the words and music cascade around us, that is an acceptable option. ![]() That unique ability to evoke memory, mystery and melancholy. We learn of her conflict with The Cellist and then it is his turn as he performs for her, for us, struggling to express the inexpressible through music. It is mesmerizing and sumptuous and the melodrama of the plot becomes a thing of beauty. She tells us it is Bach and explains why it is crucial as the words and music intertwine becoming a duet. She moves down to our level, intimately close, as the story builds in intensity and Holt begins to play. Her story is fraught with barely contained emotion, tinted with film noir and fairy tale, and reveals itself in a cascade of poetry and imagery. On the other end of the balcony sits The Cellist (Bryan Holt) who Fu makes clear she will not name beyond his designation. Rong Fu ( The Marquise of O) begins her passionate story from high above on the balcony. A woman who lived in Hong Kong in the past. ![]() The Year of the Cello: evoking memory, mystery and melancholy ![]()
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