Pas de Trois
Allen Hall Theatre
Thursday, March 19
Set in 1860s Paris, Pas de Trois depicts three ballerinas — Aurelie, Sylvie and Colette — at loggerheads over who will be selected as their maestro’s next prima ballerina, after the incumbent comes down with tuberculosis.
There is a melodramatic unravelling of their friendship, with insults traded back and forth between the increasingly fraught trio.
But it never feels as if this apparently life-or-death competition for the top spot culminates in anything beyond petulant squabbling.
Sure, one of the three ends up leaving for the countryside, but the stakes were otherwise minimal.
It felt like Pas de Trois was reaching for a more profound commentary on the arts by pitting women against each other, which it did not quite achieve.
The use of shadow — dancing silhouettes cast upon a projector screen — was effective and a visual counterpart to the dancers’ monologues.
And an ear-splitting ‘‘crack’’ at one point was used very effectively.
Perhaps the most egregious sin was the faux French accents which, at times, made it hard to entirely understand the dialogue.
Cries of ‘‘whore’’ and ‘‘that doormat’’ made me feel like I was watching a soap opera.
There were also a lot of scene changes and shuffling around of the stage, punctuated by the sound of a tinny wind-up music box, that were probably unnecessary. Pas de Trois peters out with an abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion that fooled me into thinking it had actually ended early.
A muddled ushering of the audience out of the theatre capped off an already befuddling opening night.
Further performances are today and tomorrow at 7.30pm.
- Reviewed by Tim Scott
