Before I get started I would like to inform you that this is a review from a novice’s perspective so there won’t be any witty remarks about the techniques used or complex critiques made about the writing. There will simply be an honest opinion on “Landscape II”.
“Landscape II” is a compelling solo piece by Melanie Wilson about three women separated by time and space. Vivian, the main character of the show, is a war photographer plagued by flashbacks of the photo she never took. The show is set in a small, and rather isolated, countryside cottage, where the audience will discover the connection between the three women.
Wilson’s role in the show was as narrator over the atmospheric music and the fragments of extremely beautiful muted film , which was projected on the back wall of the cottage set. During the show there was a fantastic use of colour and lighting throughout, which did well in portraying the different atmospheres surrounding each woman.
The message I feel that was being portrayed throughout “Landscape II” was an important one about how different life is for women in different times and places. Wilson touched on the idea that the inequalities faced by British women today are almost non-existent compared to women from other times and in particularly other parts of the world. She brings up the fact that there is a huge variety of ways that women can obtain happiness and love in the western world yet in some places children is their only means of doing so.
All in all I loved the way in which Wilson portrayed the key messages throughout “Landscape II” and really enjoyed the mesmerizing cinematography she used as a tool to do so. The build up to the climax was well paced and made rather intense thanks to Wilson’s use of sound, which kept the audience interested enough to grasp every snapshot of information she gave them throughout the show.
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