Red Head Reflection

I have to be honest I had not heard of this company before the show, but boy did they make an impression on me. Established in 2013, Zoo Co are led by artistic director Florence O’Mahony, and pride themselves on their ‘explosive visual imagination’. Their latest award winning production ‘Sirens’ explores gender expectations through the eyes of 3 mythological beings, the sirens, as they attempt to rewrite history and show the world who they really are. With voices that will lead any man to his death, they are forced into silence, but find a loophole when they meet a deaf man. Where can I start with this piece? It was comical but emotionally impactful, ditsy and slapstick but also maintained an underlying seriousness with its messages that although were not always very subtly given out, were very valuable. The show was a bit of a muddle through in the beginning, but quickly gained sophistication as it moved forwards, and although at first I was not a fan of the basic costum...

Based in Birmingham, Motionhouse are a company renowned for their vibrant and inspiring dance-circus productions, which have been performed since the company’s foundation in 1988. They perform internationally with their pieces made for both theatres, and the outdoors. I recently had the pleasure of watching their performance of ‘Block’ at Liverpool’s Riverside Festival. ‘Block’ has been made in collaboration with NoFit State circus, created and directed by Kevin Finnan, and according to the company, explores ‘life in the city; its contradictions and challenges’. This outdoor production acts like a giant game of Jenga, as performers build and re-build numerous structures and patterns from 20 enormous blocks, leaping fearlessly to and from each platform that is created, no matter how high. Heart stopping doesn’t even describe half the feeling it creates. Each Performer and block undergo constant collaboration, both moving in equal parts to create the beautifully intricate f...