There’s something a bit magical about a show that defies classification – at least when it works. And Quiet Songs really does, in the spirit of the best works by companies like Complicité, DV8, Kneehigh and Frantic Assembly. Only smaller – it’s only an hour (without interval), there are 5 people on stage and staged in the tiny Pit in the basement of the Barbican Centre.
Ostensibly a coming of age story of a young gay boy encountering homophobia, trying to fit in and find himself, Quiet Songs is a 1-hour mix of diary entry-like text spoken by a single actor (Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga), four string players using swords for bows who double as movement troupe and a hauntingly beautiful score (composed by director Finn Beames), all set on an austere, dark set. While Negga is often lying down in a near fetal position facing away from the audience, the musicians are in almost constant motion – whether simply playing or pointing their swords towards Negga with menace. The final element to the show is exceptional lighting – faces (sometimes masked) and swords are highlighted then plunged into darkness, bars of light on the back wall pulse and then fade.
What Beames has created is less a piece of drama and more a highly stylised, almost ritualistic series of breathtaking moving images, which bring the text to life and suggest the deeper emotions the text doesn’t explicitly mention – alienation, terror, confusion, understanding. Each element of stagecraft works together seamlessly and left me both moved by the story and feeling that my eyes and ears had been allowed to feast as well.
It’s also a treat to be able to watch an actor of Negga’s standing and ability perform this unusual role in such intimate a space as the Barbican Pit. Wearing a school blazer, the 43 year old Negga captures the character of boy through slouches, wide eyes and voice projection – and is eminently believable. An accomplished stage actress, she has the type of voice that would make me happy to listen to her read the dictionary, and brings something vulnerable and real to the text – she makes it sound like poetry.
Quiet Songs has stuck with me days after the performance – it’s unlike anything I’ve seen in years. It’s the recipient of the 2024 Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award, which supports the showcasing of new innovative theatre and is designed specifically for individuals like Beam to create productions for the Barbican Pit. Past winners include cult favourite You Me Bum Bum Train. Quiet Songs is a superb addition to the list!
A final note to potential attendees – seats are unreserved, so get there a bit early if you want to be close to the action.
Experimental Theatre piece with, words, music and movement
Written, composed and directed by Finn Beames
Cast: Ruth Negga, plus violin, viola, cello and double bass players
Playing until 2nd November 2024
Running time: 1 hour
Photo credit: Helen Murry