Musical Direction and Conducted by Miles Lallemant
Review by Aislinn McSharry
A mesmerising visual and auditory experience held at The Lyceum for the Edinburgh International Festival, Book of Mountains and Seas is a stunning collaboration of theatrical mediums, creating a storytelling experience.
A vocal-theatre work, inspired by the ancient Chinese compilation “Book of Mountains and Seas“, the piece entails four myths, sung in a combination of Cantonese and a made-up, unfathomable language. The singers are presented on stage, dressed in full-length black robes, and only their faces hauntingly illuminated.
The show struggles with a slow start: minimal use of subtitles, despite extended musical sections (assumably indecipherable even to Cantonese speakers), accompanied with limited visual elements, makes for a dry watch. The audience relies on auditory and visual elements, which don’t seem to suffice initially.
The final two stories, however, are far more engaging, and even visually magnificent: the use of lanterns for “The Ten Suns”, each going blue when only one sun remains, was particularly gorgeous, while the creation of “The Giant” in the final story was characterful and powerful, especially with the presentation of his death. At these points, the marriage of visual and auditory qualities was striking and spectacular.
A beautiful experience, Book of Mountains and Seas could have benefitted with being more succinct and functioning at a slightly quicker pace.
A Beautiful Experience
Book of Mountains and Seas ran at The Royal Lyceum Theatre
Running time: Sixty minutes without interval
Review by Aislinn McSharry (contact@corrblimey.uk)
Orly is entering into her final year as an English Literature student at the University of Edinburgh; a degree filled more with her involvement in student theatre than her commitment to academia. Orly’s involvement in theatre ranges from Shakespeare to musicaltheatre, with a particular interest in modern drama and new writing, which are the leading inspirations for (hopefully) a future career in the theatre. Orly believes Fringe is an extremely exciting and affirming environment for these passions, and can’t wait to see the promising work coming up this year.
