Last night turned into one of those unexpectedly balmy summer evenings. You know the kind. You’re outside with friends having a sundowner…in the shadow of an old Victorian gasworks with headphones on. As we waited for the production of Electric Hotel to start I knew this would be no ordinary show.
Choreography, sound and light are blended to produce an eerie, mesmerizing and unusual performance, complemented by the industrial background of a King’s Cross goods depot. A few years ago I would have been in almost the same spot larging it at The (now defunct) Cross nightclub. How times change.
I loved the sense of being a voyeur of Electric Hotel (actually, after my visit to Tate Modern’s Exposed I fear could be turning into one!). The narrative is less important here than the visuals and sound. In other words, I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on.
That said, the surround sound through the headphones was so clever in places that I thought there was somebody right behind me at one point. The magical lighting of the hotel married with a setting sun behind the gasworks added to the drama. The choregraphy…well, it’s a Sadler’s Wells performance…enough said. See it if you can. You’ll remember it for years.
Electric Hotel runs until next Friday 18th June. Book tickets here.