STOMP – Live Perth, 13 August 2013

Shane | 14 August 2013 | Reply

Regal Theatre, Perth, Western Australia – Tuesday 13 August 2013
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar

Created in Brighton in 1991 by street performers Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, STOMP features intricately physically and musically choreographed set pieces that are played out amid a dystopian set of graffiti-strewn corrugated iron and urban detritus.

Part percussive concerto, junkyard orchestra, slapstick mime and celebration of the music in all of us, STOMP shows us that music can be made using just about anything – whether it is brooms, matchboxes, paint tins, trash cans, poles, shopping trollies, newspapers, basketballs – even the kitchen sink, complete with washing up water – this eclectic troupe can play ‘em. Throw in more hand clapping and boot stomping than most rock n’ roll gigs and we have ourselves a show, ladies and gentlemen.

It’s an extremely physical show at that, with the performers going hard at it for 100 minutes, never missing a beat – or a stomp – and combining natural instinctive percussive and rhythmic feel with dance moves and comedic timing cleverly choreographed to gel with the industrial workplace/tip vibe of the set.

You may think over an hour and a half of percussion might wear you down after a while, but it propels itself along at a furious pace, always entertaining and featuring moments of true hilarity – a sketch involving the troupe reading newspapers especially sees the performers relaxed and clearly sharing a laugh with each other as well as the audience.

The most recognisable image of Stomp features trash can lids, and the thunderous tattoo brought out of them and their parent cans is saved for the show’s climax – they make one helluva noise with eight people bashing on them: this is heavy metal music, my friends, but not as we know it!

STOMP is musically inventive and engaging, entertainingly comic and an amazingly family fun show, and as it culminates in a frenetic, exhaustive and bloody loud climax before an interactive encore had the whole opening night house clapping and – yes – stomping with glee, the sweaty cast are lauded with a well-deserved standing ovation.