A QUIRKY THEATRE LOVE

“Feel alive”, “My slave”, “The burn is intense” … you enter the rustic depths of Bunker Theatre and, amongst many alarming phrases, you find these words frantically written in chalk on the back wall. You have entered a tense space where taboos are ready to be unleashed, cueing the arousal of repressed libidos and sadistic fetishes that devour humankind… but you end up laughing an awful lot instead.

If you think love is a topic too often explored in the world of arts and literature, think again. Kiss & Cry encapsulates a universal theme known too well – the hope of true love . Through an exploration of a miniature world and the narration of picturesque poetry, we are introduced to the several types of love Giselle encounters in her life, alongside her undying hope of finding the innocence in a 13-second, childlike love affair once again. Who better to tell this moving story of love and loss then married couple Jaco Van Dormael, Belgian film director, and dancer/choreographer Michéle Anne De Mey. The performance begins; a screen hovers above the stage; high-tech camera equipment and miniature sets are neatly scattered on stage. Dormael initiates the soundscape by blowing a whistle that imitates the song of a bird and the rest of the production crew gradually join along. They are spirited, acknowledging each other as the layers of sound increase, almost like a nod of...