REVIEW: RESOLUTION triple bill at The Place 11 Feb 2026

‘the weight of living’ ★★★★

ARTISTS

Hours by Rachel Elderkin
Citizens of Grief by Si Rawlinson
Before the After by Taylor Lauren Hughes

The evening opened with a feminine piece that evoked Virginia Woolf’s The Waves. Two female dancers, with great specificity and physical precision, conveyed a sense of loss, longing, and blockage. The work was poetic and the physical execution was clear, but the overall dramaturgic arc of the piece felt somewhat muted. Although the show delved into feelings of being lost, directionless, and exhausted, it could benefit from stronger structural progression to deepen its impact.

The highlight of the evening was Citizens of Grief by Si Rawlinson. The performance opened with mystical South Asian music, creating an unexpected cultural framing for the mixed-heritage British Chinese performer. What first appeared to be an exploration of identity soon developed into a deeply personal story of survival and the burden of living. The piece proposed that grief is not only tied to loss, but is something we carry constantly as part of being alive. Through a combination of elements that do not usually come together - standup comedy, hip-hop dance set to South Asian music, and themes of grief - the show left the audience with a strong sense of the weight of the lives we all carry.

The evening concluded with Before the After by Taylor Lauren Hughes, guiding the audience through an Alice in Wonderland-like world filled with contorted, yogic postures and fluid movements. The structure was clear in its overall trajectory, guiding the audience from beginning to end, yet the central section felt less defined. While the choreography intentionally embraced unpredictability, with their chance-based methods, mid-section development might strengthen piece in general.

Overall, the evening suggested the general impression of the weight of living - the uncertainty of direction, and the question of whether the lives we inhabit feel fully real.

RESOLUTION 2026 Festival of new choreography

The Place, London

BOX OFFICE https://theplace.org.uk/resolution-2026/