The Smile Off Your Face (Tour – Salford)

Before going on a rollercoaster you
have some form of uncertainty. Your first driving lesson instigates both anxiety
and excitement. The very thought of sky diving is enough to make some people
feel sick.

Correct.

Theatre is simply
performance.

Debatable.

Ontroerend Goed’s piece, The Smile
Off Your Face, brought from Belgium, conveys how theatre can be far
more than just a performance. Possessing the power of a rollercoaster, a car or
a parachute, theatre becomes an unforgettable experience- an experience that
should not be missed by those who revel in adventure. 

Being blindfolded in a wheelchair, with your hands
strapped together, is not the conventional way one enters an auditorium. For
some, neither is it an alluring prospect. What it is, however, is surreal and
enigmatic, so challenging to the boundaries of theatre, that it instantly sparks
curiousity.                          

Most plays can be easily given a
synopsis, without spoiling the twists and turns of the narrative. TSOYF,
nonetheless, is so surprising and innovative in its every feature that it would
be a shame to spoil the events that occur behind the closed doors of the studio.
Trust is as important in this review, as it is in the actual theatrical space,
the fact the company won a Fringe-First Award at the highly competitive
Edinburgh Festival being enough to persuade you to go and familiarise yourselves
with their work.

With one sense withdrawn, you enter
into an interactive activity, where voice, taste, sound and movement are
heightened and your emotions are tested to their limits. The key to the
enjoyment of the piece is left to your own participation and imagination, where
for a brief twenty-five minutes, you can allow yourself to be anywhere in the
world.

Many people would argue that the
social aspect of theatre is what ultimately makes it so enjoyable. What I will
say about Goed’s award-winning piece is that it should be treated as
an individual experience. Go alone or go in a pair. Any more and it is likely
you would lose the exhilaration of personal reflection and inquisition you would
otherwise feel post-show.

Expect the unexpected, be prepared to
trust, and you can be ready to leave with a smile on your
face.

-Rebecca Cohen