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The Playhouse
I don’t think I’ve ever come out of a ballet wishing it would just keep going. Mere Mortals managed it. San Francisco Ballet brought their European premiere to the Edinburgh Playhouse, a good twenty-odd years since they were last at the Festival, and from the opening moments it was clear this wasn’t going to be a polite, tutus-and-tiaras kind of evening.
The show takes the Pandora’s Box myth and drags it kicking and screaming into our AI-soaked present, choreographed by Aszure Barton with a live score from Floating Points (Sam Shepherd) performed alongside the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Martin West. That combination of contemporary electronic composition and a full orchestra in the pit gave the whole thing a texture I wasn’t expecting, and it worked.
The dancing itself was razor sharp. There’s something genuinely thrilling about watching that level of classical precision welded to a properly futuristic visual and sonic world, and it landed powerfully. The two lead dancers in particular were exceptional, carrying the weight of the piece with real command.
It’s off to Sadler’s Wells in London next, and honestly, if work wasn’t getting in the way I’d have seriously considered following it down there. That’s the kind of impression it left.
Here’s my one honest caveat though. For all the craft on display, I came out with genuinely no clue what I’d just watched. I’ve since asked around and nobody I’ve spoken to has been able to explain it to me either. It’s not for lack of trying, the ideas are clearly all in there, but the storytelling never quite resolved into something I could follow. That’s the only thing standing between this and a perfect score.
Four stars out of five. It would be five if I understood the story a bit better. Give it time, maybe it’ll click.
PS: maybe AI can help me figure out what actually happened. (That’s a joke. Mostly.)