The performance unfolds in a warehouse-like setting, with a raised metal viewing platform on the left and a staircase leading down to the stage. In one corner, an assortment of cardboard boxes and at the back a grey draped curtain, concealing a car-like shape. A man in a red polo shirt appears on the balcony, controlling a see-through car that suddenly comes to life, driving itself across the stage. But he is not only controlling the car but also seems to manipulate a female figure in a green Juicy tracksuit, who moves seductively on and around the vehicle. As the lights slowly reveal her faceless mask, identical avatars emerge, each fighting for dominance atop the car. As they collect into a mass of choreography, this first act opens the piece’s discussion on the sexualisation of women in video games and pornography by their objectification starkly paralleled with the mechanics of the car.
In the second act, a Sims-like avatar drops into the space as if entering a video game. Though the tone lightens slightly, the performers' meticulous movements capture the uncanny physicality of video game characters, drawing the audience into their artificial world. As the act progresses, this artificiality is violently shattered with mouths distorting grotesquely, breaking through the plasticity of their existence.
The final act adopts a jazzy, TikTok-inspired aesthetic in choreography, as if we have arrived at the familiar surface of daily internet use. The sickly sweet, performative nature of this world is undercut by fleeting glimpses of the violence and hyper-sexualization lurking beneath and which echoes of the earlier acts that remind us of darker undercurrents.
Concept, staging, choreography, lighting, music, costume, and set all work in perfect harmony, immersing the audience in this journey. The performers, at the peak of physical precision, move seamlessly as an ensemble, demonstrating remarkable attention to detail in every motion. (LA) HORDE delivers a striking and unsettling commentary on the internet’s impact on the body and by proximity human existence.
Show Title: Age of Content
Venue: Sadler's Wells East
Review date: 14/03/2025
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