Grim Grinning Ghosts
Alix Kuijpers is back again this fringe with a new world and an intricate, spooky, and vulnerable performance that is sure to stay with you long after you leave the room.
Grim Grinning Ghosts is more than a contemporary dance work, its an experience. A performance filled with grief and memories that tugs on your heartstrings and sends shivers down your spine.
The show itself is an intimate and biographical representation of Kuijpers’ anxiety and sense of loss in years past. It’s emotionally resonant and delves into the uncomfortable feelings that emerge when learning to say goodbye to both the dead and the living.
It holds a sort of nostalgia for innocence you experienced as a child, with home videos and treasured trinkets being displayed in the space.
Grim Grinning Ghosts takes place in an old house, with Kuijpers sorting through the belongings of a dead relative and discovering the ghosts of the past.
While a dance work, the focus of the show is more on the theatricality and performance than dance in and of itself. Kuijpers does use movement exceptionally well throughout the show, alongside spoken word, to depict things like his grief, his thoughts, and ghosts in unique ways.
Showing in The Mills black-box theatre, The Breakout, for its entire run, the small space allows for an immersive experience. However, it can get rather stuffy inside the room on a hot day.
Grim Grinning Ghosts’ intricate set and masterful production showcases Kuijpers’ continued skill in creating an enchanting environment. Entering the space is much like entering the waiting room of a theme park’s haunted house ride, filled with spooky décor and haunted antiques.
The use of lighting is a particularly impressive part of the show, as it takes an integral role in the audience’s experience. From the dim glow of the analogue TV’s screen, to strobe lights and a skeletons red eyes, the lighting keeps the audiences’ focus controlled when combined with the dark room.
The music and sound is also integral to the immersion of the performance, fully turning it into a multi-sensory experience not to be forgotten.
While rather slow to start, the performance does pick up after Kuijpers becomes possessed by ghosts.
Grim Grinning Ghosts is a one-of-a-kind performance that you do not want to miss this Adelaide Fringe.