THE inaugural graduation show for students taking the Arches-taught diploma in physical theatre, Splinters offered a series of vignettes under the direction of Al Seed, framed within the theme of "structure and decay". Such a broad remit encouraged
the performers to explore a variety of styles and degrees of freedom.
After a stilt walker and puppeteer had ushered the audience in, the entire ensemble took the stage to jabber over each other in a bovine manner, the Mad Cows set-up laboured to an intentionally clunky punchline. The Wall took a darker turn, apparently inspired by the lechery of Silvio Berlusconi, a woman manhandled by an unfeeling barrier of masculinity. I Love My Dog, And My Dog Loves Me was intriguing, a couple unable to express themselves outwith their bestial comic roleplay, while The Interval provided one of the more arresting sights of the evening, a bound Robert Przekwas unfurling himself from a contorted position to recite a passage from The Vagina Monologues.
The Flute sought to express the exhalation of life from our bodies when we die, envisioned as a slowly collapsing machine, while Sand was a manic workout video. Chimæra offered the striking image of a beast fusing two bodies, though the most haunting performance came from Piotr Kurjata as Medea, his sickly grin at his own power channelling Lars Von Trier's The Idiots. Motherhood and Superpapa dealt with restrictive images of parenthood, Bones was a compelling vision of controlled Butoh, while Las Pijas was a riotous display of phallic thrusting nonsense.
