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Among the various issues Roman Emperor Caligula is presupposed to have ordered was to make his horse a consul and to be known as a God. So, it doesn’t really feel an excessive amount of of a leap for him to declare warfare on the ocean. But lengthy earlier than any of this, Caligula (Noah Silverstone) was exiled to Capri alongside his guard, good friend and confidant Cassius (Felix Ryder). Here, in addition to the 2 changing into greater than mates, Caligula meets Neptune (Riko Nakazono), God of the ocean, the place he makes a deal for absolute energy. Caligula And The Sea is, underneath…
Rating
Ok
An superb visible aesthetic however in want of a essential eye.
Among the various issues Roman Emperor Caligula is presupposed to have ordered was to make his horse a consul and to be known as a God. So, it doesn’t really feel an excessive amount of of a leap for him to declare warfare on the ocean. But lengthy earlier than any of this, Caligula (Noah Silverstone) was exiled to Capri alongside his guard, good friend and confidant Cassius (Felix Ryder). Here, in addition to the 2 changing into greater than mates, Caligula meets Neptune (Riko Nakazono), God of the ocean, the place he makes a deal for absolute energy.
Caligula And The Sea is, underneath the route of Yuxuan Liu, vastly spectacular in each technical and staging. The use of material to usher in the ocean is great, whereas Fiona McKeon’s set design and visible aesthetic permit for putting visuals, from a forceful storm to a receding tide. And even on this relaxed efficiency, Aaron J Dootson’s lighting and Hannah Bracegirdle’s sound stay spectacular. There can also be noteworthy use of puppetry, designed by Silverstone, used to characterize Neptune in his numerous types, from hen to eel.
But the brief operating time tries to cram in an epic story, starting with Caligula’s exile, his rise to energy and thru to his eventual assassination. The drawback is that it doesn’t depart sufficient house to breathe. The complete factor feels just a bit rushed. The early subtlety and nuance inside the script that explores the early days of his relationships with each Cassius and Neptune quickly will get thrown apart. We then get an virtually Trump-esque commentary on a chariot race by Caligula, and much more bizarrely, a scene set to Gloria Gaynor which is jarring tonally, and solely serves to tug the viewers out of historic Rome and again right into a VAULT auditorium.
A little bit of restraint might go a great distance in narrowing the large distinction between the standard of the visuals and staging and among the over-the-top moments within the script. As it’s, each script and supply really feel too staged and synthetic, making it troublesome to see characters relatively than simply the actors. It’s solely in uncommon moments that the characters stand out, primarily within the relationship between Caligula and Cassius.
Caligula and the Sea is devised by the corporate, which can be a case of too many cooks. Individual elements are sometimes wonderful, however the remaining is crying out for a extra essential eye throughout its improvement, somebody to easily say ‘no’ every now and then. I so needed to like this present, it appeared a stand-out of the week’s programme at VAULT Festival. But while the design, tech and visuals greater than ship, the remaining wants an entire overhaul. There is clearly big expertise concerned so that you’d hope it wouldn’t take a take care of Neptune to show this into one thing so significantly better.
Directed & Produced by: Yuxuan Liu
Dramaturgy by: Jacey Casel
Set & Costume Design by: Fiona McKeon
Puppet Design by: Noah Silverstone
Sound Designed & Composed by: Hannah Bracegirdle
Lighting Design by: Aaron J Dootson
Movement Direction by: Sean Croft
Caligula and the Sea performed as a part of VAULT Festival 2023, and has accomplished its present run.