Ladies and Gentlemen, please leave the queue to the toilets, return to your seats as the review of ‘The Neon Shadow uploaded by Kneehigh’ (Available here) is about to begin.
This short film is a rather confusing one, up until the end. The minimalist set and costume allows for a deeper experience. The distractions of spectacle are replaced with meaning and subjectivity.
Tom Jackson Greaves, who plays The Boy, shows incredible restraint and discipline. The emotions presented throughout seem raw and real, while moments of dance and, what I assume to be, improvisation allows for a few breaks in the almost twenty two minute film.
Edwin Ray’s, who played Edvard, performance was as confusing as the piece, in the best way possible. With the sweet interaction towards the start of the film twisting into a sinister interaction towards the end, my emotional response to Edvard was much like a rollercoaster.
There are moments within the piece that are powerful and emotional with rather strange elements mixed in, for example the balloon section which features phrases such as ‘caged bird’ and ‘a heart on a plate’. It seems any pleasant experience The Boy has needs to be ruined by self doubt or external pressures. Also the connotations of ‘The Boy’ creates a rather uncomfortable feeling for me. We see a boy, suggesting the character is a child, flirting and chatting online with what appears to be a grown man. This doesn’t really sit well with me, and makes me jump in and out of the environment. I’m not left to settle into the world they have created because I remember that what I am watching is a dangerous situation that The Boy seems unaware of.
The connotations of Covid, isolation and internet security, to name a few issues picked up on by the film, were done so in a way that wasn’t particularly explicit. They were done so in a way that allowed the viewer to pick up on different elements. Perhaps the opening and closing of the piece, with the model paper city, could have played a larger part in the piece, as the meaning behind these moments seems to disappear after fifteen minutes of dance and acting. The moments of text also seem a bit lost for me as I find myself drifting between watching the action and reading the text. Perhaps this was intentional to allow replayability but I find it more of an inconvenience.
Overall I think this is a well put together short piece that provided me with entertainment. I would watch it again, as there seems to be lots of hidden smaller details that could be picked up on.
A show with a rather deep meaning and important message in such a strange time.
I would rate this show 4 out of 5 stars.
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