Parlour Games

Parlour Games is a visceral, highly visual piece of physical theatre, that charms and delights its audience.

Tooth and Nail theatre was formed by four graduates of Ecole Jacques Lecoq, Paris (although frankly they do not look old enough to have graduated from anywhere). Members of the company hail from four different countries, and work together seamlessly to create beautiful, organic theatre.

In Parlour Games, a demobbed soldier returns to his childhood home after World War II. Through his memory, we travel back to 1927, where as the youngest of four siblings, he joins in some highly imaginative parlour games.

Edward (Adam Gordon), Constance (Harriet Feeny), Oliver (Francois Lecomte) and Theodore (Preben Rongve) play a game of ‘pretend’, enacting a story rooted in gothic fantasy and styled by silent films. This is visually stunning theatre, with the actors providing their own lighting and creating stunning stage pictures. The production is very complex, very exact and very tight.

A beautiful juxtaposition of children’s play, with a dark undertone as we experience a world sandwiched between two wars.

Although focused on physical theatre, characterisation and storyline are top notch. The family dynamics of the children was tangible and British accents (even from non-native speakers) were excellent.

Parlour Games is brilliantly picturesque and features impressive performances. The company are also performing Hummingbird at Fringe World, apparently very different in style and tone and Parlour Games will travel to Adelaide Fringe.

Kimberley Shaw