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Nederlands Dans Theater and Complicité Figures in Extinction Aviva Studios, Factory International, Manchester 21 Feb 2025, 19:30
I had been looking forward to a show like Nederlands Dans Theater's Figures in Extinction in Manchester's Factory International ever since 7 Dec 2014, when George Osborn announced a £78 million investment in a new arts venue for Manchester as part of the Coalition Government's Northern Powerhouse initiative (see Factory To Go Ahead 13 Jan 2017 and the posts linked to that article). I had high hopes on 11 Dec 2014 when I wrote Let's bring the Royal Ballet to The Factory, Manchester. They were exceeded by the premiere of Requiem, the third part of Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney's collaboration at Factory International's Aviva Studios on 19 Feb 2025.
I attended the evening performance of Figures in Extinction on 21 Feb 2025. It was my first visit to Factory International. According to Wikipedia, the venue can accommodate up to 7,000 people in its "5,000 flexible 'warehouse' space" and 2,000-seat auditorium. There is no shortage of bars, merchandise outlets and other attractions to explore during intervals. The show took place in the Avviva Studios auditorium. Although I was in the back row, I had an excellent view of the stage, and the acoustics were excellent. Even though my mobility is limited, I had no trouble accessing my seat. There were plenty of lifts and escalators as well as helpful and courteous ushers.
Figures in Extinction started with the list or [1.0]. There was a dialogue on a screen between "Simon" and "Crystal", though I did not recognize the voices as those of McBurney and Pite. Dancers represented the animals, plants and glaciers that have disappeared as a result of climate change. The animal that has stuck in my memory is the Pyrenean ibex with its distinctive curved horns. The top photograph in An Introduction to Figures in Extinction shows how the species was represented on stage. A child asked plaintively whether the animals had gone away and whether any were ever coming back. According to the online programme, the text was taken from Why Look at Animals? by John Berger. The score was composed by Owen Belton, who has collaborated with Pite for many years. There were also excerpts from Perfume Genius's Normal Song and Blick Bassy's Aké. A flavour of the work can be savoured from NDT's YouTube video Figures in Extinction [1.0] - by Crystal Pite with Simon McBurney (NDT 1 | Dreams 360).
Figures in Extinction [2.0] but then it comes to the humans explored the possibility of the extinction of our species. Suuited human beings in their offices were scrutinized just like the disappearing species in the list. The music was by Benjamin Grant with fragments of Claude Debussy's La Mer, Dmitri Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, Johan Sebastian Bach's Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, Nils Frahm's Less, Alfred Schnittke's Cello Sonata No. 1: I Largo, II Presto, Jim Perkins's The North Wind, Owen Belton's Extinction Crescendo and additional music by Josh Sneesby. The work was inspired by Iain McGilchrist's The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, extracts of which were read during the performance. Some idea of this part of the show can be obtained from the video Figures in Extinction [2.0] but then you come to the humans - Simon McBurney with Crystal Pite
For me, the most disturbing part of the show was Requiem. A voice spoke about space and time and the relationship between the living and the dead. It continued that the dead surround the living. The dead experience timelessness, though, sometimes, so do the living in extreme circumstances, one of which could be dying. There was a scene of a patient wired up on monitors. A staff nurse and trainee changed the patient's bedding, almost manhandling him. A family entered the patient's hospital room, squabbling with each other. Somehow lifted the mood of an otherwise depressing theme was lifted by a luminous backdrop, a photograph of which appears in the online programme. The score was by Owen Belton with fragments of Fauré and Mozart's Requiems as well as other works. A sample of the piece is contained in Figures in Extinction [3.0] requiem,
This is a profound, multi-layered work which cannot be appreciated properly by watching a single performance (if, indeed, any worthwhile show can). Figures in Extinction will be performed at the Internationaal Theater in Amsterdam tonight, tomorrow and Saturday before proceeding to Helsinki in April and Luxembourg in June. It is well worth seeing.
