Time Out (London)
Julia Morrow
Quilt- Oval House
Initiated in 1987 by Cleve Jones, the NAMES project comprises an
ever-increasing number of panels, each representing a life lost to AIDS. This
new musical meanders through those lives, and the lives of their loved ones who
created the quilt so that they would not be forgotten. It's that simple - and
simplicity lies at the heart of Moving Target's production. Sue Mayes' set is a
plain white framework which gradually fills with one unique panel after
another, each an incredibly personality. As the show progresses, the actors
become enmeshed in the quilt, with their lives intersecting and with each of
their voices combining to crease a unified whole.
Through the kaleidoscope of the songs and scenes a narrative is provided by Wes
(Reinhard Michaels), who is HIV + and whose lover Philip (or Gumdrop, as he is
affectionately known) has recently died of AIDS. Wes is the supervisor of the
quilt workshop, and through the people he meets and the stories he hears he
finds the strength to look to the future.
Carole Charnow's direction is masterful, seamless and smooth yet crackling with
energy, while Mike Servant's musical direction is slick and precise, with the
voices, all of which are totally different, blending wonderfully under his
orchestration.
Thankfully, Quilt is not a squeaky-clean slice of Political Correctness:
take, for example, Karen (Joyce Springer) singing of her consternation that the
quilt workshop is at the Gay and Lesbian Centre (what will her neighbours
say?), or the testosterone-laden pump and grind of the rap number "Hot
Sex" (with stunning choreography by William Folan-Conray). Quilt,
like its namesake, takes the stuff of nightmares and turns it into something
dazzling. More importantly, it shows that you don't have to be gay, or
promiscuous, or a junkie to be affected by AIDS; you just have to be alive. For
that reason alone, no one should miss it.
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