Festival Theatre, Edinburgh – 5th April 2019.
Reviewed by James Knight.
3***
Presented by the Dance Consortium, the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Pepperland is a celebration and dissection of what is considered to be the very first ‘concept album’: The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.
As Mark Morris has stated in interviews, this is not a Beatles singalong or tribute act, and anyone going into the performance expecting this will be severely disappointed. Instead, tracks such as ‘A Day in the Life’, ‘When I’m Sixty Four’ and ‘Within You Without You’ are not covered, but stripped back in an exploration of the music and how it was structured, how the Beatles brought together various inspirations including classical, Indian and music hall.
Some moments are more successful than others – in order to examine the musical components of ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’, composer and arranger Ethan Iverson has the Music Ensemble play their respective sections in different keys. It’s a solid idea, but can be off-putting to the ear, and the phrase, ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ comes to mind.
Elsewhere, the ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘A Day in the Life’ segments truly encapsulate the life and vigour of the 60s Beatles, with vocals being provided by a rich baritone (Clinton Curtis) and substituted throughout for that wonderfully strange instrument the theremin, played by Rob Schwimmer.
Onstage, Morris’ choreography is slick, accentuating phrases in the music through rhythm and repetition, with particular moves tied to particular phrases. Morris, like the Beatles, brings together various inspirations, drawing from ballet to contemporary and of course, 60s. The costumes, designed by Elizabeth Kurtzman, are unique for each performer, but the brightness of the colours is immediately as recognisable as the album cover. Strong images emerge throughout – the opening of a lotus flower, people driving to work, even a brief representation of the Fab Four before they’re chased offstage by a screaming horde of fans. However, because so much energy is devoted to breaking down the music of the Beatles, some of ‘Pepperland’ can feel devoid of heart – the music is meant to be danced and sung to, and while it can be fascinating to see what makes it so popular and ground-breaking, there was a struggle to bring that passion and enthusiasm to the audience.
‘Pepperland’ won’t win any new fans to the Beatles, and might even alienate some old ones, but as an exercise in exploration of their music, it is very different indeed.