Two-faced Bastard: I love you transformer

Chunky Move’s Two-faced Bastard was one of my favourites, although maybe I’m not supposed to say. Upon entering you have to choose to enter the theatre space to the left or right, which then dictates what side of the show you’re on. The audience is split in two, facing each other, with the performance happening between, but then also split, so at any given time, one side of the audience is only able to see half of the performance. I started out on the left side with the other ‘lefties’ in the group, which was supposed to be the ‘backstage’ area where there was an interview going on between the performers about the act of creating art, the time, energy, devotion, and life that goes into a production, questioning what the audience brings to the equation, and if it is ever equal. A well considered discussion that anyone producing art questions at one time or another, and bringing the audience into it worked. I LOVED that I couldn’t see what was happening on the other side of the curtain. And, I don’t feel cheated in any way that the performance ‘wasn’t dance’, as some of the complaints have been. It absolutely was, the choreography was amazing, in particular, the two dancers speaking/dancing in unison as one and the transformer robot sequences. I should also note that the sound effects/speaking by the dancers was choreographed as if it was another dancer—integral to the piece and expanded the dance further. The movements were at the same time, fluid, graceful, staccato, precise, both feminine and masculine, sexy and absolutely hilarious. And I didn’t even see the kissing part or the final battle scene. I did change sides because the girls were all standing up, bags in hand before the actor was even finished outlining that we could switch sides. And so we went over. I would love to see the piece again, not because I feel cheated and the other sides were better, but because I would love to see the entire piece and how it all fits together. But, then I don’t know if that’s really cheating or not.