When the Dutch Outdoor Theater Company, Close-Act, is in town for a show – there are ample opportunities to get great pictures. Its almost as if all you have to do is to wander down to Nathan Phillips Square on Feb 6th or 7th by 7:00PM and not get trampled during all the machinations in the show.
Apocalyptic Vision
The latest Close-Act show is entitled Pi-Leau and portrays a water world post global warming of the glaciers. Now the Dutch who are dike oriented because they have reclaimed much land from the North Sea and are only a few metres above sea level for large tracts of their countryside – they are very conscious of the potential effects of global warming. So the Pi-Leau vision of a future water world is very real to them.
The Continental Icesheets Breaking Up
one of the most dramatic scenes from the show is the music and action showing the Arctic Continental ice sheets breaking up. The scene and sounds are at once thunderous but also haunting in beauty. If one has ever traveled to see the Northern IceCaps and witnessed the glacier break ups these images are equal parts elegant and visually stunning.
The Brewing Heat Wave
There are many red caustic images in this show there are reminders of Kevin Costner’s WaterWorld imagery – especially the use of flippered sea-goers and great whales. But the mood is menacing and well conveyed with the use of dramatic lighting, smoke spewing red and white flares, and loud beating drums. The tale is moral and apocalyptic, the sound and vision Sturm und Drang – and the ending – ambivalent.
However for photographers this is must see and click – the number of great shots available are very great indeed.