REVIEW: HEADin for godot, at The Cockpit Theatre / Camden fringe 23 – 24 August 2023



An almost bare space. The stage manager has left the room and the house lights have gone down, but nothing is happening. The show is inspired by Waiting for Godot—perhaps it’s intentional? Eventually, a musician wanders on and takes up a position with his toolkit in the corner: a piano, synth, looping pedals.

A storm. A woman runs in and collapses on the floor, curling into a foetal position around her high-vis vest. She begins to distort her limbs, arch her back, do a headstand.

A man drifts on, eyes hidden by dark goggles, disorientated, giggling.

When the two meet, they begin the contact improvisation that will shape the majority of this piece, which the press material describes as an exploration of loneliness and longing for connection in the aftermath of an (undefined) accident. Although some concrete hints are scattered throughout—a safety helmet, winter clothing—and Marie Chabert’s and Daniel Kearns’s unnamed characters do, eventually, speak, of Julys and Novembers and relationships and curly hair, their trauma is left largely unexplained, clear plotlines disregarded in favour of searching and feeling.

This is European-style theatre at its most European—Kearns’s training in the Polish director Grotowski’s physical approach is obvious, and Grotowski’s “poor theatre” aesthetic dominates every aspect of the production, from the semi-immersive staging to the simple lighting. Chabert, meanwhile, has danced in Germany, and as someone who knows the Berlin fringe scene well, I can confidently say that no audience in Kreuzberg or Mitte would blink an eye if this piece transferred there, entirely unchanged.

It’s nice to see a London venue staging more experimental work from the continent—but I wish the result had pushed further. The touches of surrealism, including integrating Thomas Broda's musician into the action, are effective.  But this type of physical theatre, light on plot and heavy on themes, lives and dies almost entirely with the connection, or lack thereof, between the performers. Chabert’s movements are generally more intense than Kearns’s indirect energy, but neither kept me fully invested in their relationship(s). The flips and headstands were impressive, but never did I hold my breath and think This is all improvised, anything could happen between them, I wonder what they’ll do next? The most effective sequence was an energetic dance set to Broda’s vivid drumming, and Broda’s work here—from composition to execution—was across the board excellent, effectively holding the space with everything from sound-scaping to piano lullabies.

So if you’ve always wanted to know what all those folks in Warsaw and Berlin and Avignon see at their own fringe festivals, HEADin for godot is for you.

Team

Marie Chabert - Choreographer/performer

Daniel Kearns - Choreographer/performer

Thomas Broda - Composer/musicianf you’ve always wanted to know what all those folks in Warsaw and Berlin and Avignon see at their own fringe festivals, HEADin for godot is for you

Reviewed by Anna Clart