Words by Sophie Thomas.
Part spin class, part interactive dance theatre performance. SLAP Collective’s new work Brightside, programmed as part of Leeds based Compass Festival, thrusts audience on a cardio
packed workout, navigating the trials and tribulations of millennial life.
Despite having taken part in the odd spin class, I arrived unsure of what to expect. Armed with my workout clothes and water as instructed, I was ushered to ascend a spiral staircase.
Ecstatically greeted by the three performers, Lydia Nutter, Freddie Hayes and Tiia Ojala, they confidently exclaim in millennial-pink workout lycra, whilst they set audience up on a mixture of spin bikes and chairs. There are lights, music, screens.
Legs cycling, the class begins and as does the chronological life story of an individual, but universal, millennial. The warm up, arms pumping to S Club 7’s ‘Reach For The Stars’, starts the story at school age. Visuals of hard wooden benches and plastic dinner trays are accompanied with positive affirmations of ‘following that rainbow’. Then to a leg burner exercise. Increasing the bike’s resistance with each post-grad life problem as it arises. This workout soundtracked by an original song with quips about student debt and endless job rejections.
With each stage of life cycled through, a nostalgic drink is poured into the performers’ gigantic water bottles. Mixing WKD, test tube shots, Heineken. Then clumpy protein powder and effervescent vitamin C tablets as the biography reaches the sobering mid thirties. This drawn out mixology foreshadows the disgusting inevitable. This cocktail will be drank, accompanied by the audience’s ‘We Like To Drink With…’ chorus.
Singing, cycling, moving; there’s a multitude of ways to interact and each activity is provided with options of intensity. Midway, an interactive quiz, audience voting A,B,C or D, to discover whether they are more Hufflepuff or Carrie Bradshaw. It’s accessible and self-aware, poking fun at the cynical stereotypes of forking out on avocado toast whilst not being able to afford a flat deposit.
Other mundane life problems are given makeovers. The aim: to reply to just one email. The method: both audience and performers cycling through a MarioKart simulator, dodging Starbucks cups and other distractions to reach the finish line of send. Here SLAP Collective’s technological eye is fun and cohesive. Retro video game encouragement seems like an initiative all spin classes should hook on to.
Being both poignant and ridiculous in its tone left some moments feeling ambiguous. However with the workout life story concluding in an acapella sing-along rendition of ‘Mr Brightside’ the final moment offered some reassurance for any ages struggling with modern life right now.
That we’ve all come out of our cage. And we’re doing just fine.
Brightside is on until 28th November, as part of Compass Festival at East Dock, Leeds. Book here.
Creative credits:
Writer, director, performer – Lydia Nutter
Divisor, performer – Freddie Hayes
Performer – Tiia Ojala
Technician – Jack Sibley
Access Assistant – Alex Dunlop
Motion Design – James Turzynski, Tim Woodson
Original Songs Composed by Jack the Robot
Singers – Jess Sweet, Louise Mothersole, John Pavia, Rob Semp, Tim Woodson
Song Writing – Jack the Robot, Tim Woodson, Lydia Nutter, Tyrell Jones