The Lifespan Tour
Introduced by the iconic fanfare of Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, synonymous with towering accomplishment and change in a science fiction setting through its use in 2001: A Space Odyssey, it is undeniable that The Lifespan Tour, performed by Sarah de Nowell with the Company of Bards has lofty goals and hubris, though while glory by association can be achieved it is harder to maintain under scrutiny.
Described as a spoken word science fiction performance, The Lifespan Tour opens with a poem performed by de Nowell calling on the universe to bring answers and understanding and suggesting that composed of clues and images the language of poetry is akin to the language of dreams, but although introducing expansive concepts of the cosmos the verse is twee, as though Pam Ayres had developed an interest in amateur astronomy.
The three-strong cast dressed in silver plastic trousers and occasional pink wigs – this is the future, of course – concepts are represented with painful simplicity which speaks of a lack of imagination, a jumpsuit and mask acceptable as a virtual reality memory and sensation playback suit considering the limited budget but the guest appearance of Time wearing an oversized clock the stuff of children’s entertainment.
With an illuminated sphere serving as the interface to the Lifespan Tour itself, offering the chance to experience the whole existence of an unspecified and possibly unevolved alien organism, de Nowell becomes more Mystic Meg than Margaret Burbidge as she winks at the audience: “I don’t want to be running around with primeval lifeforms – I get enough of that at home!”
Feeling as though it is masquerading as science fiction but having little understanding of the genre and concluding with another poem of water, light, heaven and resurrected life, The Lifespan Tour has the emotional depth of a greeting card, the equivalent of listening to a Jean Michel Jarre album and calling it a spiritual experience, resembling nothing so much as the kind of show which used to tour primary schools playing to tiny audiences who had no choice but to attend even as they fidgeted in their plastic seats.
The Lifespan Tour runs at Greenside at Nicolson Square until Saturday 26th August
