★★☆☆☆
At its heart The Limit, a new dance-theatre restaging of the West End play Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, is a fairly ordinary look at the anatomy of a relationship. What made Sam Steiner’s play distinctive, however, was that the story of Oliver and Bernadette was filtered through the premise that the government wanted to restrict to 140 the number of words we are allowed to say each day — a device clearly inspired by Twitter, as it was then known.
It was an annoying theatrical conceit on stage and it’s even more annoying in the context of The Limit, choreographed by Kristen McNally, directed by Ed Madden and starring Francesca Hayward and Alexander Campbell, two principal dancers with the Royal Ballet (there is an alternative cast at some performances). Over the course of 70 minutes we hear Hayward and Campbell deliver text from Steiner’s play while McNally provides choreographic commentary — a dance subtext to the dialogue, if you will — and Isobel Waller-Bridge sets the mood with her spare and mournful score for piano, cello, violin and percussion.
The relationship that unfolds in this two-hander is intimate and fraught. The couple are in love but divided by fundamental differences — Bernadette is a lawyer who has worked hard to get where she is, Oliver is a political activist who resents her success. We are never sure which way their relationship is going to turn — where will her jealousy lead? — but as voiceovers sound the alarm of an impending government crackdown on speech, the whole thing begins to feel a little contrived and tedious. When the two dancers start singing and swinging to Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark it becomes just plain silly.
Yes, there is much pleasure to be had in watching two fine dancers explore their dramatic capabilities as actors. Campbell is the more successful, speaking his lines clearly and well. Hayward speaks too quietly and too fast. Both, though, show real command of the non-dancing stage.
No complaints about their dancing. Hayward is a gorgeous mover, velvety smooth in her phrasing and lustrously calm. Campbell, whose character is full of anger, moves with a jittery visceral energy yet is also capable of intense romantic feelings. The play flirts with ideas of communication — how much can we express without words? — but although that would seem an interesting avenue for dance to explore, McNally’s naturalistic body language doesn’t go far enough down that road.
To October 28, roh.org.uk
Advertisement
Follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
