In the dark, high up on the stage, hands grope their way through a wall of black cloth. It takes a while to work out the anatomy of our solo performer, who morphs into a dozen possibilities before emerging recognisable as Matilda Leyser, the actor and aerialist. The piece is called Night-Plane and gradually, using the folds of the fabric, she travels across the black expanse like an astronaut dancing in space.
Night-Plane may be slight, but with its resonant images and theatrical nous (it was choreographed by Rosemary Lee), it is by a long way the only creditable offering on Leyser’s touring triple bill of aerial solos.
Where Night-Plane is all in black, Lifeline is all in white, with a single vertical hanging rope serving as Leyser’s sole prop. She moves up, down and with her rope to chart the course of a human life. She rides it like a horse with childish glee; she uses it to fashion a mock penis (one of several feeble attempts at humour); she cradles the rope as if it were a cherished baby. But after 25 minutes of fanciful doodles it’s hard to justify the dramatic ambitions of this tedious effort, which amounts to nothing more than mimicry with a rope.
The final piece on the Linbury bill was Dead Point. The title refers to the “still, quiet suspension point at the top of a swing” and it’s at this precise point that Leyser executes her swinging aerial choreography. Her skills are indeed admirable and even — in the sudden drops on the swing — jawdroppingly daring. But her view-from-the-top monologue (a mix of poetic impressions and aerodynamics written by Bryony Lavery) turns the whole exercise into a lecture demonstration. Ruminations on a rope? It may be enough for some, but for me this show is a real stretch.
www.matildaleyser.co.uk
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