Tao of Glass
- ravensguilduk
- Jul 17, 2019
- 2 min read
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Produced by: Manchester International Festival, Improbable and Royal Exchange Theatre
Composed by: Philip Glass
Starring/Directed by: Phelim McDermott
We're going to start by saying we are not going to give an overview of any plot points, or even define what this work is (is it a play, musical, concert? We still don't know and we've watched the thing!) All we will give away is that we really enjoyed and appreciated this performance, and we definitely think you should see it whilst you can.
As we took our seats in the intimate and beautiful theatre that is Manchester's Royal Exchange, we did not really know what to expect. Given the name and what we know of Taoism, we thought what we were about to watch would be weird... and it was, but not quite in the way I could've expected.
The show is self indulgent, fourth-wall breaking, low budget, and almost entirely monologue from the same guy... and we loved every second of it. It was funny, moving and introspective... the puppetry is ethereal and beautiful; it perfectly encapsulates the essence of Taoism as a concept. The music of Philip Glass is obviously a big feature and selling point of this production, but we would like to highlight how well the musicians performed the controlled and emotional music sustained throughout. The magical stage production is the topping on this proverbial cake.
Again, we do not want to spoil the show in any way (and if the minority of twitter reviews are to be believed, this may not be everyone's cup of tea). But-like marmite- if you get it, you'll really love it and it has stayed with us long after the final bows.
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