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Last Rites
Corn Exchange, Newbury
AD Infinitum’s latest one-man show co-devised and performed by Ramesh Meyyappan is a stylish hour, seamlessly combining expressive and delicate physicality with imaginative captioning and graphics along with a fully integrated, low-key score.
Centred around the last rites performed by the deaf son for his traditional Hindu father, it is a journey through their increasingly troubled relationship where his father’s stubborn unwillingness to engage with his son’s sign language has alienated the growing child from an obviously loving parent.
Reluctantly facing the washing ceremony that is the traditional duty of the eldest son as part of a Hindu funeral, Meyyappan turns the necessarily repetitive routine of delicately cleansing and anointing his dead father into an intense, graceful and emotional slow dance. Without spoken words his sign language and physicality create a series of vivid pictures of his father and the relationship they shared that expresses his profound sense of loss for their broken relationship.
Christopher Harrison’s projections imaginatively capture the meaning of the grieving son’s silent words and feelings and provide a striking backdrop to the bleak, funereal setting. At times it is difficult to take in both graphics and sign language simultaneously, but the combination is always in harmony.
Akintayo Akinbode’s sound design swings between gentle, tunnel-like, white noise and background, instrumental accompaniment to highlight important passages in the deaf boy’s past and the developing father/son relationship.
Director George Mann has ensured that all the technical elements underscore the skilfully synchronised performance and add weight to the emotional impact of the production.
This is a unique piece of theatre carefully crafted and deftly integrated to create a short yet powerful physical eulogy. As well as capturing the sense of loss the son feels for his father, the production manages to reveal the dynamic and expressive nature of sign language. Not without a sense of humour, Meyyappan’s physical reflections on his character’s father are as enlightening for the audience as they are cathartic and self-reflective for the son.
On national tour until July 19. For dates, venues and tickets see: ad-infinitum.org.
