What's that moving inside of the closet?

Gobi Dance Company, Hungary

Author/Director/Actor: Rita Gobi

Stage Design: Fruzsina Nagy

Music: Samu Csernak

Rita Gobi’s project A Dress-Up Adventure falls in a category somewhere between dance, contemporary circus, acrobatics, ballet and the theatre of objects. This is a non-verbal play about the awakening of individual body parts, about the process of waking up and getting out of bed and about the ritual of getting dressed. However, a skirt, a sweater, a tracksuit, a cap, gloves, boots, the overalls and a comb – they all come to life, proceeding to complicate menial tasks. A trouser leg demands to be worn where it wants, no discussion!

Rita Gobi is fantastic! Her each movement is scientifically precise, synchronized with the play’s classical score, unequivocal in its meaning as she never loses concentration, not for a moment. Possibly, the play could have benefited from a more complex and coherent plot, because after a few minutes it becomes a bit predictable. However, the play can be perceived solely from a visual perspective – it’s hardly a colorful Rorschach blob that needs to be loaded with meaning. Occasionally apparent is an impression of overstimulation and too many visual stimuli coming from the stage. Rita Gobi, admittedly, possesses a great power to hypnotize the audience and draw them into the emotional state that she experiences in the play.

Overall, A Dress-Up Adventure is an unpretentious dance performance intended to skew children's expectations. The right sleeve usually fits the right arm - except for Rita Gobi and the theatre. The intended letdowns caused euphoria, exaltation - sometimes even revolt - in the audience. The play provides a space for further exploration of physical expression and non-verbal communication which allows the audience to rely on their own imagination and interpretation. Such moments are precious in children's theatre. Through playing with body and objects, the author also manages to pose questions about daily rituals, routines, and the way we adapt to the rules - or defy them.

Audience impressions after the play:

“What is this?” (a girl, age 9)

“It’s alive!” (a boy, age 6)

“Why is it dark at the beginning?” (a boy, age 5)

“I found it funny” (a boy, age 6)

“It was boring, then awesome, then boring then awesome again” (a girl, age 7)

“How does she manage all that?” (a boy, age 6)

Divna Stojanov