Akram Khan Company: Chotto Xenos at the Riley Theatre
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
Recommended for family audiences over the age of 8, Chotto Xenos is a reframing of Akram Khan’s full-length award-winning solo work Xenos. Like the original dance piece, Chotto Xenos uses a solo dancer to explore questions around war and military action – however, this reworking is designed to be more accessible to young people.
Chotto Xenos uses a solo dancer to explore questions around war and military action.
Captivating and powerful, Chotto Xenos takes young audiences back in time to tell the forgotten and often ignored stories of colonial soldiers who fought in World War I. For this reimagining, Akram Khan has joined forces with Sue Buckmaster, Artistic Director of Theatre Rites and creator of the hugely successful Chotto Desh. Intelligently interweaving themes from the original work, Chotto Xenos pitches the necessary, though often difficult questions, around conflict to younger audiences and their families.
Akram Khan’s stunning choreography is set to a stirring original soundtrack by Domenico Angarano, which has been inspired by Vincenzo Lamagna’s score for Xenos. Lucy Cash’s evocative film projection – incorporating animations of wartime aircraft, newspaper cuttings and images of the trenches – shifts the narrative from personal to universal. Guy Hoare’s atmospheric lighting design, costume by Kimie Nakano and Ingrid Hu’s set design provide a powerful backdrop for one graceful solo dancer.
Theatre is the perfect medium for communicating quite complex ideas in a simple, visual way…
Theatre is the perfect medium for communicating quite complex ideas in a simple, visual way, especially for younger audiences. Many of our youngsters are exposed to images of war through social media or through playing video games. In this production, one talented dancer tells of one soldier’s experiences in war. Powerful and easy-to-understand, he narrates his experience which is emblematic of the stories of many others affected by conflict. Catch this deeply moving and timely piece at the Riley Theatre, Leeds.
