THEATRE REVIEW: The Wedding ★★★

The Wedding
Warwick Arts Centre
Thursday 4th May 2017

Described as a political production about signing a contract and regretting the motion of getting married in an arranged setting, Internationally acclaimed theatre company ‘Gecko’ bring The Wedding to Warwick Arts Centre, with so much engaging, powerful, and subtle choreography that will at times send shivers down your spine and having you standing, stomping, and clapping whilst on your feet with the performers as the production draws to a close.

As a newcomer watching a Gecko production, I had no idea what I was about to watch until I sat down to watch the performance, which was a recommendation from a peer the week previous whilst watching another show at Warwick. Because of this, the initial foreign speaking language did take some time to get used to, majoritily then becoming overall more of a visual production that you have to experience, unless you could speak the language being presented on stage. This for me was quite difficult as I found some of the storyline hard to understand, but the actions coming from the nine performers on stage was such a collective, compelling ensemble and I couldn't take my eyes off all them, never knowing which entrancing sequence I should watch.

The set was so purposeful and really brought energy to the whole piece, which was almost flat pack as it fitted into the flooring, making every scene run smoothly and not clogging up the wings of backstage. I would also like to give credit to Gayle Playford, the costume supervisor on the production, who did a stunning job with the wedding dresses which were showcased on stage, as well as the female tailors blazer shown throughout and the outfits for the faceless performers who wore outrageous wigs and suited exquisitely!

The heart of this production though was the powerful music booking throughout the auditorium, especially with the surround sound making several appearances throughout, with the imagery of children going down a spiral slide around the whole theatre space, and the lighting which really enhanced the performances on stage in terms of highlighting where to look, especially with the handheld lights in the movement sequences with the male who had different costume and prop pieces floating in the air around him!

Overall, The Wedding was a slow burning production on the language barriers initially, but once moved past it became a visually beauty in dealing with arranged marriages in such a poetic and stunning way!