Theatre / Reviews
Review: Mmm Hmmm, Factory Theatre
The description of composer and performer Verity Standen’s show Mmm Hmmm as “a cappella song theatre” is misleading. It conjures up images of a jolly evening of unaccompanied ditties, possibly in the style of Fascinating Aida or the Puppini Sisters.
Instead, the show is a piece of performance art which uses the human voice raised in song as just one of the tools – alongside physical theatre and a profound and brave use of extended silence and stillness – to create a mesmerising, discombobulating, nebulous assembly of sensations. In a series of almost random snapshots, three performers in simple shift dresses – Standen, plus fellow musicians Ellie Showering and Jannah Warlow – sketch out moods, emotions and the light and shade of life using the almost subconscious power of music and simple image. It’s more reminiscent of the David Glass Ensemble’s powerful mime or a Laurie Anderson performance than a cabaret night.
is needed now More than ever
That’s not to say that there isn’t humour in this show. One piece consists entirely of the phrases we encounter almost subliminally in everyday life – “please enter your PIN”, “buy one get one free”, “the buffet car is now open” – delivered in plainsong, highlighting their ubiquity and banality and raising laughs of recognition from the audience. Elsewhere, there is a bittersweet barbershop celebration of a love affair. But there is also a wordless song where the performers push against one another, which is somehow – bizarrely – able to capture something essential and profoundly moving about the pressures of life through the medium of three women humming and huddling together.
It may be clear that Mmm Hmmm is almost indescribable in words. It is an experience, and one unlike anything audiences will probably have had before. It’s powerful, it’s funny, it’s weird, and it’s unique.
Mmm Hmmm continues at the Factory Theatre until Sat, Jan 23. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/mmm-hmmm
Pics: Paul Blakemore
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