Daniel Harrison
It’s been almost a year since I last saw Clout Theatre perform, again at Battersea Arts Centre, in its truly excellent How A Man Crumbled. I had never heard of Clout before this, and I quickly became a convert. I was absorbed by the sheer physicality of their work, combining fluidity yet structure, fragility yet ferocity in all that it does. Whilst its latest contribution, The Various Lives of Infinite Nullity is sadly no How A Man Crumbled, it is still a very fine piece of work indeed, proving once more that Clout are the masters in absurdist, unhinged physical theatre.
What links our three protagonists is that they are all dead. More than this, they all committed suicide, regaling each other and the audience with just how and why they did so. This is ‘a post-suicide support group’, a leap into the new and unknown. Indeed, they’ve never felt happier and healthier, they claim, although these statements may be for their own rather than anyone else’s benefit. We overhear a game of suicide one-upmanship, as all three assert political motivations lie behind their suicides, the situation in Darfur for instance. We are greeted to the downright surreal, as a zebra dominatrix clacks about the space in high-heels whilst another animalistic creature climbs a ladder to undertake in some water-sports. Does it matter that I had no idea what this meant? I don’t think so; it was brutally riveting nonetheless.
Whilst often witty and playful, Clout’s work displays an unnerving knack for the sinister, too; the opening scene in which blood is scraped off the face with a butter knife and spread on a slice of bread, which is consequently eaten with glee was morbidly fascinating to watch, and behind the pure aesthetic lies plenty of intelligence and thought; see this as a modern day Huis Clos. Hell most definitely is other people.
It is hard not to be impressed with what Clout makes and does. Jennifer Swinger, Sacha Plaige and George Ramsay (graduate of the prestigious Lecoq school) scurry about the space like some Gregor Samsa-esque beatle, with every muscle, every movement, every eye-twitch carefully controlled and choreographed. They store props about their person with imagination and verve, allowing for slick interchange between scenes. They thrive on the grotty dourness of the (lack of) set they create; whilst the tarpaulin in the background is used occasionally to make sound or add spectacle, this is a performance whose focus is on the undeniable talent of its three performers, aided also by a deliberately cold and clinical lighting design that you might find in a hospital waiting room. There is nothing to hide behind.
And let’s hear it for Battersea Arts Centre, too, for continuing to be a home for all that is fresh, exciting and new in contemporary and experimental theatre. It provides a vital service. Whilst Clout’s previous work has left me feeling pummelled and challenged more than what I saw last night, I cannot wait to see what it might create next. I hope I don’t have to wait a year to find out.
The Various Live of Infinite Nullity is at Battersea Arts Centre until 12 October. For more information and tickets, see the Battersea Arts Centre website.