News / Reviews and... / 1990 Guardian Review of 'Pax'
Friday 7th January 2000
It seemed impossible that a show could live up to the pre-production hype of Pax, premiered as part of the Cardiff Festival in St. David’s Hall. Brith Gof, a small company that in nearly 10 years has remained largely unknown outside Wales and the aficionados of experimental theatre.
But, yes, Pax did it. This is a unique, memorable performance. Angels, lacking words but speaking eloquently with their bodies, vast cathedral-like structures of scaffolding, great swirling banks of sound, a litbretto that may not have been entirely comprehensible (though well worth later study in the “users handbook” or designer programme) but which resonated over the action. This was a heady mix of grand opera, performance art, physical theatre, symphonic rock, scenography and, crucially, a forceful green message.
You knew it was something special from the beginning. Heavy pregnant chords from the Pax Orchestra at the back of the stage, men in protective overalls spraying smoke and filling a water tank, and then the five angels flying down, falling through a hole in the ozone. One lands in the water, another gets covered in dirty dust, they all get wrapped in and fight free from plastic bags. Poisoned by the polluted Earth, they return.
Three rows from the front, the action was totally engaging. The balletic angels, the industial humans, the singers, the orchestra, the lights, sounds and even smells sucked us into the performance environment. But I suspect the engagement slackened as you got further back and, possibly more importantly, higher. In future performances, says the company, audiences will be standing and running around with the performers. Can’t wait.
-David Adams, The Guardian 28th September 1990