PRESS

“It would be nice to say that Douglas Thorpe’s Beast put me in a happier frame of mind, but it’s not that type of piece. From the off you rapidly descend into a violent hell where 3 pairs/couples of dancers push, punch, snarl, strangle and throw one another around with all the abandon of American WWF wrestling, if without the fun. Will bones snap, you think, as you hear the thud of another body smacking into the floor or a convenient wall. This was a crack team of dancers, led by the dramatic pairing of Ana Lujan Sanchez and Dane Hurst. It brings home the utter stupidity and waste of personal violence, if at the end they all turn to laugh at us as they shrug their cares and bruises away. Even more scary really.” Audience member Made in Yorkshire, 2009

“The four experienced women in Douglas Thorpe’s Dry Toast deliver their difficult material with real gravitas. This bruising piece sees them locked into destructive, nihilistic cycles. In a harsh, sparse set, they repeatedly crash land on the tables, the floor, the bed, each other, hurling themselves about in blind frustration, or flapping futilely on the floor like netted fish. With its searing sounds, its images of people in conflict and in conflict avoidance, Dry Toast was easily the highlight of the evening.” Audience member Resolution 2008

“Introspection is not a charge that could be leveled at Douglas Thorpe’s frightening, threatening Beast. The assault on the senses begins before the house lights are down, a loud burst of Oasis’s Morning Glory pummeling the audience as we enter. What follows is shocking and brutal; the six exceptional dancers of Mad Dogs Dance Theatre are not afraid to beat themselves up, hurl each other into the set or intimidate the front row of the audience in their study of the animal side of human nature. The men strut and stamp in a display of mingled sexuality and aggression, and violence is never far from the surface. Physical and visceral, Beast is a work that demands the audience sit up and take notice.” Audience member Resolution 2009

“Dry Toast consisted of a French breakdancing quartet who took on the effects of drug addiction. Violent, dark, painfully physical, you could feel the jolt of the dancers’ knees hitting the floor as they dropped and slammed their bodies against the stage. In the opening scene, a feel-good rendition of Oasis’ Wonderwall was followed by a powerful sequence of painful insomnia where the dancers tossed and spasmed on low tables to a restless soundtrack. Breathy, exhausted and sweat-sheened, the dancers radiated discomfort as they compulsively repeated punishing routines. Powerful.” Audience member Resolution 2008