While it was no surprise that Hands Percussion would attract a full house on the opening night of their highly anticipated show “Ritual of Drums”, it was still a buzz as The Actors Studio hardly ever looked so packed. But then, of course, all who were there knew that Hands Percussion would not disappoint.
From meditative time signature build-ups that introduced each of the five compositions to the amazing pounding of resonant barrel drums that had everyone on the edge of their seats, Hands artistic director Bernard Goh (aka Xen Xiong) and his drummers certainly gave punters their money’s worth.
Even without reading the program that gives an explanation to the themes and ideas behind the five compositions (from an uplifting paean to the passing of the four seasons to a dialogue of sorts between the Chinese Qiang Zho and Japanese Taiko drums), audience members were enraptured by the dynamics of the drummers who exuded strength, grace and confidence.
Goh’s two original compositions (the first and the last piece) took the show beyond Chinese drums and into proper theatre as they explored in a rather spooky avantgarde way into interesting uses of movement (especially in the last piece Sound Play “Primitive Yet Pure”) and voice.
Having said that, however, it wasn’t flawless. The lengthy introductions to the pieces were a tad repetitive and tested the audience’s patience. And although I thought the acoustics were fine, one of my friends commented they dampened the drums. Perhaps these reactions were just a sign of the audience (many seemed to know Hands already) being anxious to get to the climaxes of the three-hour show; climaxes which came in spurts, which worked both with and against the flow of the entire show.
Nevertheless, there were more plusses than minuses. All the compositions, taken as individual works, were full of surprises. The rolling drums inspired grand images of soaring landscapes that explode from their claustrophobic intros.
But enough said. There’s almost everything here for both normal and demanding viewers: spiritual kinetics, brooding tensions, eruptions of energy, etc. All the time, when I closed my eyes and tried to see into the rhythms, I was seeing bears, horizons, skies, wild horses and dinosaurs(!). And I wasn’t even high.
Photos by Pang Khee Teik
First Published: 09.04.2002 on Kakiseni