Shadows takes root in the tinkles of a picture perfect music box world: a world wherein two stapping men woo one delicate women-in-white. Vying for her affection, slapstick and physical trickery become their main weapons. As the music box world is a game unto itself, every trick and stunt is extremely well placed. Playfulness is the order of the day.
Contrasting ideas of fantasy emerge as another women creeps into this spotless sphere. A sinister counterpart feminine presence, she introduces us to the cabinet of dreams. Here, the music-box inhabitants of the music box see their own dreams and nightmares as they are plunged into the imagination of the night.
Fluttering across our open eyes dances an array of vivid images, which are both the subject and form of expression. No mode of imagery stands extraneous in the illusory scope of dreaming. Music box lady seeks her absent lover, the image of who is projected, but whom she cannot access. Fleetingly his body meets hers on stage. In the contrast between the 3D sphere of the body and the stage and the 2Dimage, the nature of dreaming and its talent to tease and torment the solidity of reality is vividly clear.
Shadows is a hauntingly beautiful piece that illustrates the imaginative power of collective dreaming.