Inventory Review

Inventory
Choreographed and performed by Gabriele Reuter
Thursday 19th January 2012

 

I didn’t really know what to expect from the piece before going to watch it. I went in with an open mind to see what I would understand from the performance and to see if I could gain inspiration from it. The piece uses both movement and text which I haven’t seen before. I was interested to see her take and interpretation of how this could be done.

As the piece started, she asked us for some audience participation. We were asked to stand up, shake ourselves off and then relax into our seats. I have never seen a piece where the audience are asked to participate however; I think this was a good idea because it helped the audience to bond with the performer and become a part of the piece. It felt like we were building a bond or trust with Gabriele Reuter herself.

“This piece is a personal journey across a completely empty stage.”

This quote from the programme really helps me to understand where she was going with the piece and what she was exploring throughout it. She created boxes of space for her individual thoughts. For example, there was space for her political views and space for vague ideas that didn’t really have a particular subject area. She spoke about them in such detail and moved freely between each space. She filled the empty room with imaginary boxes and shapes using her body and gestures. I found it really easy to visualise and imagine where one space ended and when the next one started.

There was so much detail and information to take in and I would like to see it again in order to full engage in everything that happened. I loved how simple the movement was but how complex the text could make it. It really did make me focus on the piece and concentrate from start to end.

Overall, I really enjoyed watching the piece, even though it required intense focus throughout. It made me realise how you don’t need props or scenery in order to represent different spaces or shapes on a stage. It made me learn that text can be used with movements at the same time. It made me question myself and relate it to things I have learnt in my own practise.