Man in the Moone: Rhum and Clay at The New Diorama

Rhum and Clay have long been a favourite theatre company of mine, they represent my introduction into the world of physical theatre in a way that is accessible, engaging and simply magical. They all graduated from Jacques Le Coq Theatre School in Paris back in 2010 and formed the group as they are now. Each year since then they have attended Edinburgh Fringe Festival with a new production which they have also toured to London, the South West and other places. Their first show was Shutterland, a showcase of the skills they had learnt at school. This was followed by the ingenious A Strange Wild Song, which will forever be one of my favourite pieces of theatre. This was the tale of three young boys, stranded by war, found by a soldier with a camera. It was naïve, touching, resonant and infinitely clever, along with a superb live soundtrack. A hard act to follow indeed.

Perhaps my love and obsession with A Strange Wild Song would mean that any show that followed would feel a bit of a disappointment, unfortunately that was exactly the case with Man in the Moone.

The show is still said to be under development, therefore perhaps my critique would become obsolete, and I would hope that this would be the case, however I will continue to review the play anyway, as is my new-life resolution to review all productions that I see now that I am living in London.

The basic storyline follows a man who is discontent with his life as an office worker and he seeks something more. Given the number of casting calls that I have read lately, this seems to be a recurring theme for a large number of creative projects at present, no doubt fed by the lack of public funding and the need for us creative-types to pay our way with 'regular' day jobs which we feel detract from the time we would rather spend doing our passions. The protagonist in this case has, since birth, been fascinated with the moon and therefore commits much of his life to researching how he might get there. The story follows this journey.

There are moments of Rhum and Clays stunning visual choreography when they show the city culture in and out of the office. As strong as it was physically, I couldn't help but feel that the subject was a little 'done' and lacking in the creative originality that was evident in A Strange Wild Song. What followed on as he started his trek towards the moon were a number of more abstract scenes blending space travel with mountain expeditions, introducing some new characters which I couldn't help but feel were caricatures that were not quite fully formed. Although the protagonist was likeable and relatable, there was something lacking, that spark that was present in the characters in A Strange Wild Song was not evident in this new piece... yet.

I am reluctant to write a review that is not in complete favour of the work of this young company, I admire their work, their work ethic and they remain one of my favourite companies. They indicated that their next plan is to spend two years working on a full length piece, that will hopefully propel them from a touring fringe company to a company performing at a much higher level, with a higher profile. I hope that they can see Man in the Moone as a learning curve, but use A Strange Wild Song as the basis for the kind of story, quality and ingenuity that they need to create their new longer piece.

This is still a company to watch in the future, I would give this production ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ but I give the company ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ . 

I saw Man in the Moone at the New Diorama Theatre, London, on 6th September 2013 at 7.30pm. 

Rhum and Clay will be touring their variety of shows throughout Autumn 2013: 

17th October The Arts Centre at Winterbourne International Academy, Bristol
18th-19th October Pegasus Theatre, Oxford
24th October Theatre Royal, Margate
1st November Embrace Arts, Leicester
2nd November Déda, Derby
5th-19th November (assorted dates) Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter (Part of a three week residency)
22nd November Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe, Devon