Photo Credit Wendy D. Photography. Tiffany Tregarthen and Jonathon Young
Sheesh. Twas a busy holiday season. Some may ask, "where ya been"? Well, to answer that question; we've been at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica most recently and we saw Kidd Pivot and Electric Company Theatre's presentation of BETROFFENHEIT AKA "Shock, Bewilderment or Impact". The work presented Feb 14 -16 was dark and humorous and classic Crystal Pike - creative sets, puppetry paired with screeching sharp music, dark lighting and dazzling dance. The piece incorporated tap and it was quite refreshing to see tap dance done in a work these days. The feeling of the set was similar to Crystal's Spooky 2009 work - Dark Matters. CHECK THE LINK!!
BETROFFENHEIT focuses on an individual experiencing or suffering from addiction and/or mental health issues. Early in the work the audience gets to see the main performer coping with health problems in a state of paranoia. Then in several scenes later, or in essentially Act II; the audience gets to see how certain life events have caused the performer to respond in a certain way. As noted in the program relating to mental health conditions "What a daunting task transforming a troubled mind is, when what you're looking for is what you're looking with." - From "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts - Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Mate.
Photo Credit Wendy D. Photography.
Jonathon Young, Cindy Salgado, Jermaine Spivey, David Raymond, Tiffany Tregarthen,
Bryan Arias
Artistically, the work was executed extremely well and the dancers were AMAZING. The only criticism we could offer is that Crystal could have done some editing of the movement phrases between Act II and Act III. The clown-like dancer (or Pixie?) performed by Tiffany Tregarthen was definitely our favorite part of the work as she portrayed that annoying dark little voice that everyone hears in the back of their mind at some point in life.
We hope you get a chance to see this thought-proving work! Its DEF worth the time.
-Spot LA