What Remains, Traverse @ University Medical School, Edinburgh
The Scottish site-specific pioneers Grid Iron have moved into Edinburgh University's magnificent medical school, specifically the anatomy department, for a creepy show about music, medicine and madness. The smell of death, or at least preserving fluid, is in the air and we are greeted with a rendition of the magnum opus of Gilbert K Prendergast (composer/ performer David Paul Jones), on a baby grand in the echoing entrance hall.
We are split into classes and led around rooms in which it becomes clear that Mr Prendergast is a piano teacher with a difference. There are bodies in the closet, bloodstains on the floor and eyeballs everywhere – not to mention the true horror of an interactive arpeggio lesson.
There are some interesting ideas at play here – the links between bodily and musical perfection and (im)permanence, obsession and Oedipus – but it's too thin and an eerie start is lost in hysteria. The installations are beautifully detailed and the setting is stunning but the non-musical live action is limited to spooky voiceovers, garment-rending and quite a lot of heavy breathing. As so often in site-specific theatre, the site's the star, to the detriment of everything else. Punchdrunk lite.
To 28 August (0131 228 1404)
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies