Review: A LIFE IN FOUR SEASONS at Regent’s Park Open Air

Directed by Tinuke Craig and choreographed by Alexzandra Sarmiento for the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, A LIFE IN FOUR SEASONS aims to convince us that the human condition is divided into three unique identifiers: Head, Heart and Gut. These, we are led to believe through some interpretive dance, remain with us throughout our lives, from the innocent vibrancy of youthful Spring, through the intensity, passion and aggression of Summer and Autumn, and on to the more sedate and reflective Winter of our senior years.

The cast members dressed initially in soft grey, adopt pastel shades of blue, pink and orange as three key dancers for each 'age of man' assume prominence within the troupe, leaving the ensemble to support. There is a great deal of stylised wrist/elbow movement, and body crunches feature prominently, but that aside, the choreography relied heavily on each dancer's capacity to connect and transmit their character and personality across the footlights — which can be something of a tall order when half the audience are fixated on the pigeon which has been attracted by the lights (and perhaps the scattered snack remnants of a previous audience) and is poised to disrupt proceedings.

Some performers naturally radiate both sharp line and onstage vivacity. Key among them here, were Tanesha Aba in the early section as Spring Heart. Assuming focal dominance during the next section was Michael Naylor as Summer Gut, who at one point appeared to be tripping on acid or E at a night club. His success as a performer, was still managing to be the person you'd most want to talk rubbish with at an after party, despite his character's erratic behaviour. As the troupe loomed into Autumn there were some tricky moments — particularly a wardrobe malfunction which, to her credit, Canadian performer Christie Lee Manning turned to her advantage by transitioning from a beaming smiling onstage background presence into a harried and aggressive participant in the cajoling of Louis Mackrodt at the footlights. This she managed while maintaining her dignity and composure. Hats-off to any performer who can literally think on their feet and still be a creative asset to the performance despite a costume or technical difficulty — it's certainly the sort of stage craft which earns points and recognition from critics and audience members. For Winter, it was a pleasure to see both Mark Smith making an onstage appearance in which he exemplified the Stephen Mears style as Winter Heart and long-time Matthew Bourne collaborator Mami Tomotani defying her years and gravity as a sylphlike and effervescent Winter Gut.

In all, everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves on stage which added immeasurably to the student graduation down the generations feel to proceedings. A LIFE IN FOUR SEASONS isn't necessarily going to set the dance world on fire and there was a notable lack of choreographic variety and wow factor, but as evenings and settings go, it was a thoroughly charming affair. If you want to catch a performance, the production continues until 14th June and runs just shy of 2 hours including the interval.

A Life in Four Seasons