In the middle of the courtyard there is a wooden dining room table, with four chairs. The lights dim, and from the four corners of the courtyard four men dressed in black make their way to the table and each take a seat. The lights raise again. A somewhat incongruous and misleadingly simple start to a performance that was both awe-inspiring and utterly mesmerising.
The dining room table of course is not an ordinary dining room table, for a start, I don’t know about you, but my dining room table doesn’t have a guitar neck feature, nor does it have a flute sticking out the top of it. Nor is it amplified for that matter. The four men are Karbido a jazz-rock group from Wroclaw, Poland. This show, aptly named The Table is a musical tour de force that had the audience captivated from start to finish.
The hour-long performance began with the four men throwing blades into the table, with the resonant sounds emanating from the table being an early clue that it wasn’t necessarily what it seemed. From these simple beginnings the group build their sound, with the swish of the hand brushing the surface to the clang of a metal handle hitting a wooden drawer all adding to the growing unruly symphony.
The Table is a bit of a genre bending performance, which seems to have a series of eclectic music reference points, from Eastern European folk music to rock and roll. The sheer range of sounds and tones that the group are able conjure from that simplest of tables is impressive; the drumming element of the show was particularly impressive, with the group creating an elaborate and intricate tribal style drumming sequence using only their fingers and the odd fist.
The journey ends with a hauntingly beautiful piece, which is both ethereal and spiritual, an effect created in part by the use of water filled glasses as instruments. Part of the shows appeal is perhaps the enigmatic nature of its creators; there is no interaction by the group with the audience, and little between themselves. Their silence adding to the mystique of the show.
The Table is like nothing you’ll have seen before. I mean its not everyday you get to see four men craft songs using only a table. The show is compelling and captivating and one which will stick in my memory for quite a while to come.
Fringe World runs until the 19th February
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