Blood from Stone

Originally published in ThreeWeeks.

Some shows are less than the sum of their parts. This musical about a museum where the statues come alive at night is full of players who can evidentially dance, sing and act, yet we only catch a glimpse of their potential. Plot points are the first distraction - the sculptures claim not to remember being the mythological figures they resemble, but then freely refer back to their myths - Daedalus, for instance, mourns constantly for his lost son Icarus. The cast is forced to sing outside their range, and often drowned out by their accompanying band. The melodies sound almost improvised, and the dialogue is sprinkled with flowery, meaningless metaphors. I left with new appreciation for the quiet stillness of real-life sculptures.

Blood from Stone is playing at C too until 18 August, every day at 5:30pm.