Review: FREE YOUR MIND, Aviva Studios
Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
Making its world premiere in Manchester, Factory International stuns audiences with Free Your Mind. Based on the 1999 film The Matrix, this theatrical masterpiece illustrates a world in which humanity is lost in virtual reality - a world which seems more real than ever nearly 25 years later. Directed by Danny Boyle, Free Your Mind collaborates the contemporary choreography of Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy, Michael ‘Mikey Asante’s intense body of sound and Es Devlin’s revolutionary set design.
Created especially for the official opening of Aviva Studios, the spectacle uses dance and immersive design in a variety of studio spaces to capture the journey fuelled nature of the narrative. From the outset, audiences are immersed into the world of The Matrix by being given either a blue or red wristband of which you are told you will need for the second act, creating an environment of pre-empted enigma and excitement. From the opening, the set is smart in its simplicity - using a white stage space against a lit backdrop of equations to establish the show as a piece of science-fiction. Throughout the performance, the power of light is used to build the atmosphere, capturing the dystopia of the environment of which we embrace.
The use of the television, referred to as the “Manchester baby” at the start of the show, pre-empts to the audience that we are ‘plugged in’ to a world of distorted reality. Mixing sound with movement, the choreography incorporates the television into the body of dancers, establishing the theme of reality vs illusion.
Featuring 50 professional dancers from the Northwest and around the UK, the performance company combines both physical theatre and dance in its most impressive yet expressive form. The precision and sharpness of the ensemble dancers’ movement exceeds the vision of this show a collective phenomenon. However, despite being so in sync with each other’s movements, each ensemble member is individually interpretive with their own movement, carrying the story of the show with their passion. Important to note, the show’s costuming goes above and beyond capturing the dystopia of the show using industrial and futuristic costumes to emphasise distance from the watcher’s sense of reality.
Much to the audience’s amazement, a highlight of the show uses a trapesing dancer flying over the auditorium as she holds onto flares and a distorted expression, setting the intense atmosphere for Act Two.
It is safe to say that the intensity was more than matched in Act Two when audiences are led into a separate studio space to become immersed into the show as either a red or blue participant - cleverly referring to the choice of taking the blue or red pill in the film, of which one allows you to see reality and the other makes you forget. This set uses a runway down the middle of the stage with a screen above which is lifted to reveal the audiences to each other as a mirror. From this point, the performance only becomes more impressive as detailed graphics displayed on the screen combine with the intensity and storytelling of the performers’ movement, leaving audiences truly mesmerised. Memorably, amidst the chaos, the passionate yet vulnerable partner work between the leads of Neo, played by Corey Owens, and Trinity (Nicey Belgrave) portrays the beauty of human intimacy and relationship in a world which ignores it.
In the midst of its spectacle, the actual storyline of the show can be difficult to follow without a previous knowledge of the film The Matrix. However, as relevant as ever in the midst of artificial intelligence conspiracies, Free Your Mind exposes the true power of technology in a world where human fixations have true power over human relationship.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Lucy Bevan
Free Your Mind plays at Aviva Studios until 5 November, with further information here.