One hour. Two performers. One hundred plastic chairs.
Gareth Mayer and Tara Tan first performed this work as a student project at Bristol University in 2007. Reprised in a cavernous gallery space of Old School @ Mount Sophia, it's striking because of its utter difference from anything else we're currently seeing in Singaporean theatre or dance – indeed, its closest local parallels may be in the performance art scene.
You'll be forgiven for twiddling your thumbs during the lengthy first movement, which consists of the two actors methodically stacking the chairs in twenty tall towers. Fortunately, drama (and comedy) ensue as the two begin to battle violently over the chairs, competing with one another in the creation and destruction of precarious geometric structures.
Though the work's fundamentally an exploration of form, the characters' wordless interactions recall issues of politics, terrorism, human nature… quite a feat considering the simplicity of the elements involved. Here's my congratulations to Tan on a successful local debut, and the best of wishes to expanding performance in the future.