Stomp
Theatre
Stomp opened to the beat of a broom and powered on to transform the rest of the cleaning cupboard, and themselves, into entrancing percussion instruments.
Stomp was created in 1991 and has mesmerised audiences around the world, including more than 10 years of continuous performances in New York. The program for the show comes complete with a double page time line of the accomplishments of the show’s creators since the original concept Bins was developed in the 1980s.
There are several characters in the show, which does not need words to communicate with the audience; a leader, a clown to poke fun at, a comedian and the tough, but fun woman with a beanie chewing gum. From the first moments the cast held the theatre in the palm of its hand.
The leader was effortlessly successful in getting the public to clap along which meant much fun and laughter with games played on stage and off.
This is not a show where flips and jumps rule, it is all about the percussion and rhythm on stage, and about having a laugh. It’s a bit like these kids played with the pots and pans in mum’s kitchen and got such a good reception they decided to go pro – with incredible and surprising results.
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It looks effortless and the cast play with coordination and timing I can only dream about, turning cans, or tubes or even matchboxes into world class musical instruments.
The talent is evidence even more so during the audience participation, where the crowd loses time in even a simple sequence of claps.
Stomp received a resounding standing ovation, showing this simple concept is still going strong after more than 20 years in production. My only complaint would be that I thought it went a touch too long, but others may think it didn’t go for long enough.
Stomp is on at Her Majesty’s Theatre until September 1.
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