Endings is a haunting arrangement of recorded interviews, live music and performance all revolving around the premise of death and the loss felt by those the dead leave behind. Created by Tamara Saulwick, this multi-disciplined experience brings on recorded recollections of loss and meetings with mediums to weave together a truly rare piece of theatre.
It is a slight mystery to consider how Saulwick and her team manage to connect all of these elements. Vinyl recordings, tape loops, electronic and acoustic music, performance and an intricate lighting system all just meld together in seamless symphony. It is like an hour spent in someone else’s dream. Although there are recorded experiences spoken by anonymous voices, Endings feels like you are freefalling in Saulwick’s own understanding and experience of loss.
While the electronic rhythms give way to an entrancing element of the show, it is Paddy Mann (Grand Salvo) whose presence casts an unexpected light onto the play. Every now and then, Mann’s soft voice and acoustic guitar echoes from beneath a spotlight and adds a layer of warmth over the cold experiences of death.
The sensation that builds in a performance of Saulwick’s is pretty near ineffable. There is a desire to bandy around stirring adjectives but there is no doubt they will fall short in doing Saulwick any justice. She is a powerhouse when it comes to breaking through human layers, extracting the personal considerations we have and using them to concoct a tingling performance that finishes with you feeling slightly stunned.
As her work Pin Drop did before it, Endings leaves you in a state of goose bumps and awe. Tamara Saulwick is an eerie force of theatric experience, one that should be experienced first hand to fully appreciate it.
BY LAURA MAIN
