Review: On Before – Carlos Acosta – Festival Theatre

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Based on the evidence of On Before, age has not wearied Carlos Acosta, nor dimmed his appetite as a performer.

Muscular, lithe and completing turns with the satisfactory precision of an Audi advert, Acosta remains a compelling force. Joined by an exquisitely poised Acosta Danza Principal Laura Rodríguez, the stage certainly doesn’t lack for talent.

The show consists of 9 vignettes, each conceived by one of the world’s leading choreographers bookended by two duets, first Will Tucket’s On Before, and Raúl Reinoso’s Nosostros, written specially for the show, to close. The graceful classicism of the former finds a more modern, but not unsympathetic contrast in the latter, whilst offering Acosta and Rodríguez ample opportunities to impress.

However, the highlights of the show are likely the two solos. Acosta’s take on Russell Maliphant’s Two, originally intended for a ballerina, adds a thrilling martial arts flare emphasising the motion-blurring effect of the imprisoning box of light. A lavish geometry of candles provides a more lavish, if sombre arena for Rodríguez’s elegantly mournful rendition of Brandstrup’s Footnote to Ashton.

Acosta’s narrative thread grows more than a little bare at times, however, with tone alone the only link here and there. Intended to track the course of a – rather troubled – relationship, the connections do tend towards the vague. When the safe extinction of so many candles is hidden behind a big screen projection of slow motion short Falling Deep Inside, the show’s immersive spell threatens to break altogether.

“…Rodríguez’s elegantly mournful rendition of Brandstrup’s Footnote to Ashton…”

Nevertheless, On Before redeems itself in its final scenes, where Acosta embraces the grief, born of his mother’s death, which first inspired the production. Rich with pathos, the purpose of the dark-clad figures who have periodically swarmed the stage is finally revealed. In this instance, the Edinburgh University Singers open their throats in a magnificently mournful rendition of Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium.

Ultimately, there’s much to admire here in every aspect of the stripped-down staging, almost entirely conjured from Chris Davey’s deft lighting scheme. It may not be perfect, and yet one suspects standing ovations will follow On Before wherever it goes.

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On Before – Carlos Acosta will play the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh until February 2017, 2024. For tickets, and more information click here.

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