Tag Archives: Barbican

Rain Room , Barbican

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You may be wondering why the Barbican Centre is busier than ever before… this innovative arts venue always presents intriguing and original exhibitions but never before have the public been so fascinated.

Last Saturday afternoon I was one of the envied journalists who was allowed to skip the queue and go straight into the Rain Room, an innovative installation from experimental company Random International. This project is their largest and most ambitious work yet: a 100 square metre field of falling water for visitors to walk through: amazingly they remain entirely dry as the sensors detect them and stop the showers. It is appealing to feel part of an artwork and for the Rain Room participation is crucial to the success of the piece.

It is a mesmerising sight… technically virtuosic and visually staggering. Standing at the tip of the storm is a thrill and taking the first step is weirdly scary. Soon the adrenaline gets pumping and you feel invincible halting the droplets with every step… but be warned move too quickly and the sensors won’t keep up… put simply you will get wet. Paired with striking light design, Rain Room is a genius new artwork that thrills every visitor. For a few minutes you can control the rain, a superpower we all wish for as Londoners.

Be warned though – to play the Rain Game and you could be waiting up to four hours, it is a breathtaking installation but with so much rainfall outside you may feel silly waiting in line for so long to see even more…

Continues until 3rd March, more information here.

http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=13723

THOROUGHLY MODERN MISS: Mademoiselle Julie, Barbican

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If you thought London theatre was having a Scandi moment – Hedda Gabler at the Old Vic, and now Miss Julie at the Barbican – you’d be wrong. In fact, this Miss Julie is a Mademoiselle Julie, a Festival d’Avignon production which is very, very French.

It was all in the style. Juliet Binoche’s sensual Miss Julie shimmers in floor-length gold sequins (Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, naturally). The fashionably-dressed party guests, who dance to a soundtrack with just the right mix of Blondie and Madcon, embody Gallic cool. Even the one dressed as a giant rabbit (more on this later) manages to look chic.

But the show-stealer is the set. Laurent P Berger has created a white, light-flooded box divided into three slices by sliding glass panels. The slender white birch trunks, which break up the acting space couldn’t be further from the ‘gloomy forest’ of Jean’s nightmares.

On the whole, it worked for me. If it was a bit hard to appreciate the full extent of Julie’s degradation when the lowly kitchen of Strindberg’s play looked like it could plausibly belong to Nigella Lawson, towards the end of the play the set really came into its own as Julie and Jean scurried around like frenzied lab rats under the increasingly bright light.

The transparent set also allowed the party guests to remain onstage, their dancing behind the glass screen getting gradually more languorous and dream-like. That is, until after Julie and Jean’s assignation, when, led by the bunny, they advance menacingly downstage to tribal music. Odd.

The biggest disappointment was the sound. Binoche and Nicolas Bouchard (Jean) wore microphones: fair enough in a theatre the size of the Barbican, but there were occasionally some odd stereo effects and time-lag issues. Worse, when the pair locked in passionate embrace (a frequent enough occurrence in this play), their mics rustled and clunked.

There was lots to admire in this production. Bouchard’s Jean was nicely mercurial, by turns charming and brutal. Binoche played some of Julie’s tantrums for laughs, which came as a welcome relief, but she never became ridiculous. There were moments of real tenderness between the two. But style sometimes threatened to win out over substance in this production.

Continues until 29th September, book here.

Written by a Thoroughly Modern Miss, Lucy Hall.

THOROUGHLY MODERN MAN: Carousel, Barbican

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This is the second show I have been to at the Barbican in recent times, and again I was given the impression that it is a theatre I am missing out on.  The Barbican centre, and as a result the theatre inside, has something of that 70s architectural bleakness about it, but being in the minority in this respect gives it a certain charm as a performance venue.  One feature worth mentioning is the massive retractable stage curtain, which consists of two rather noisy pieces of plastic that slide from the top and bottom of the stage and meet in the middle, bringing a whole new meaning to the term ‘final curtain’!

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel features some of the most powerful music ever written for the stage and the most well-remembered of this writing duo, including the immortal ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, ‘If I Loved You’ and the joyful ‘June is bustin’ out all over’.  Therefore it was no surprise to note that the age demographic of the audience was somewhat older than average, however, this should not discourage younger viewers from enjoying what was a fantastic production of this timeless classic.  Opera North’s touring cast did a terrific job with the musical; their intention to present a largely un-altered version of the masterpiece (with the exception of a few injections of modern dance) was clear and committed.  I must confess that I found the whole evening rather lengthy – obviously this is a criticism to be levelled more at Messrs R&H – the fantasy plot in the second act grew rather tiresome for my tastes.  Nonetheless, the performance had some sparkling moments; Claire Boulter’s evocation of Carrie Pipperidge was adorable and appropriately motor-mouthed and excitable; Elena Ferrari’s rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone was extremely moving, as was the ultimate chorus reprise of the number and; William Kenning’s and Alex Newton’s extended dance sequence in the final act was entirely entrancing.

This would be the perfect evening for a family night out or a nostalgic trip down memory lane with Rodgers and Hammerstein.  Failing either of these scenarios, you really don’t need a valid excuse to go, so book tickets here.

Continues until 15 September.

http://www.barbican.org.uk/theatre/event-detail.asp?ID=12876

Written by a Thoroughly Modern Man, Mark McCloskey.