Despite being a huge fan of Tristan Jacobs, I was disappointed with this piece. I thought it was a good first attempt, but what let me down was mostly the directing. I think Tristan performed with utmost passion and focus, but he ultimately gave the impression of not having been directed. Which came as a shock to me when I looked at the program and realised that Rob Haxton, whose latest works Rubber and Bent I absolutely adored, had directed this.
- Tristan Jacobs (http://cuepix.ru.ac.za)
Dedicado deals with the paradoxical fragility and resilience of heritage. In Tristan’s case, his Portuguese family heritage. I struggled to follow the narrative, but I gathered he was on a search for this heritage, haunted by dreams of his grandfather.
The work makes use of physical theatre – at which Tristan is so,so good – as well as some Butoh-esque, surrealist dream sequences.
In my opinion, it could do with a much tighter directorial approach, because although a lot of passion clearly moved the piece, its final storyline and message were not clear enough to me.
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