LEO, a one-man physical theater hearkening from Berlin, literally tipped the stage of the Irvine Barclay Theatre on its side on Saturday, October 5th. A set by Flavia Hevin consisted of three walls and a floor and occupied center stage. Meanwhile, a camera craned down from the house rafters, capturing performer William Bonnet at a right angle. His image, rotated 90 degrees to the right, was projected onto a screen next to Hevin’s set. So as Bonnet lay supine on his back, his duplicate appeared to be sitting upright. But LEO went beyond cold conceptual techniques and into the more heartwarming land of narrative. With the sound of a clock ticking, Bonnet and his suitcase appeared in a dimly lit, Kafkaesque waiting room. Was it a train station? The place was deserted, and something unusual was up…or down…or sideways. Bonnet slowly became aware of the gravitational pull of the “wall” beside him, attracted to the impressive feats it afforded him. His suitcase was was similarly magical; playing music and pulsing with light, it introduced a variety of dance sequences that matched the changing strains of African drums, hip-hop, classical piano, and gooey Sinatra. The suitcase also produced a piece of […]
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