London, Day 19: Everything *and* the Kitchen Sink

One of the fun aspects of London is all the theater (or theatre) shows. In fact, you can tell which shows are going on in London because they're all advertised in the tube stations. There are posters lining the escalators. It's quite amusing, actually, and they're pretty effective. The people riding the escalators are a captive audience, and a large percentage of Londoners ride the tube every day. I would imagine the percentage of tourists with money and time on their hands is even higher.

So, Saturday afternoon I went to see Stomp. It's a group of eight people who make rhythmic music using anything but actual musical instruments. They use brooms (sweeping and hitting the wooden parts against the stage to make different sounds), trash cans, differing lengths of pipe, and yes, portable sinks full of water. They hit various cups and bowls while dumping the water out in order to make the pitch go up. One particularly cool piece involved all eight of them lined up, holding cigarette lighters. The lights were off, and they flicked on the lighters, making both a visual and aural pattern. It was lovely.

Stomp isn't just about the sound. There' s a great deal of choreography. In one piece, they sat in metal folding chairs which they hit, shuffled, and shut. At one point, they stood in a circle and slid their chairs around to each other. It was impressive. The show was funny, too. Although there was no talking, there were quite a few amusing facial expressions. And one member of the troupe played the part of the person nobody respected. At one point, some sand was thrown on the stage so the troupe could shuffle around in it to make sounds. But the sand thrower ran out before he got to her, and dropped just a pinch below her feet. So she started brushing some sand from the guy next to her, but he glared and then drew a line in the sand between them.

I have to say that I was amazed at the coordination and talent of the performers. Sure, I can hit a five-gallon water bottle to make interesting noises. But to co-ordinate five people at once to make a variety of pitches into a coherent rhythm is astonishing.