Victor Esses brings his multimedia show The Death and Life of All of Us to Camden People’s Theatre following last year’s Edinburgh Fringe run.
As we enter the theatre, there are a few props to catch the eye (envelope, fez), a couple of microphones, and two men setting up.
As a scrolling text later informs us, these men are Victor Esses and guitarist Enrico Aurigemma, who supports the show with live music. The scoring is delightful.
We have some idea what to expect. I take my seat near the front, in the corner, with a good view of everything.
The Death and Life of All of Us is notionally about Esses’s great aunt Marcelle, filmed and interviewed across a series of tapes twenty years ago.
As video footage of her spills across the theatre’s back wall, it is sometimes the focus but often competes with other things in this warm but uneven show.
As Esses opens the show asking the audience some rather searching questions, it becomes clear that Marcelle’s story impacts on how Esses, a Jew turned Christian, a gay man who struggles with his body image, sees himself.
We are told that he loves to dance, but his movement is abruptly curtailed at several points during this show. There are uneasy moments that don’t quite connect placed aside a lot of humour. Marcelle’s presence is strong and sparkling.
In terms of tech, there’s a lot going on from the moment lights go down, and Esses explores the stage with the assistance of a head lamp. His live speech is captioned, as is his recorded speech as narrator.
There are screens which vary in visual quality showing Marcelle, all captioned but sometimes muted, sometimes slowed down. We often remember people this way.
At one point, we were listening to Victor reading (with captions) while an interview with Marcelle played, silent, in the background (also captioned). It’s perhaps information overload.
This is a show about attention, representation, memory, family, and identity. Marcelle’s story remains just out of reach, a tantalising glimpse into the past quickly covered and hidden.
The Death and Life of Us is an experimental piece of theatre written and performed with an easy manner and openness, but without quite letting us in.
The final catharsis of movement (Aurigemma pedals, Esses dances) brings matters full circle but leaves us waiting for the big ending. A show that wears its heart proudly, inspiring and entertaining, but still firmly closed off.
The Death and Life of Us continues at Camden People’s Theatre until 13 Apr with tickets here.
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Image credit: Christa Holka