By Peter Maddern
The Greek myth of Icarus, the boy who, when flying too close to the sun, found the wax that tied his wings together melt, causing him to fall to earth, is reinterpreted in this tour de force by (the appropriately named) Scott Wings. In Wings’ world the myth is less about hubris and ignoring sound advice but rather one about depression.
Developing that theme we get taken into the tower where Icarus and his mean, misanthropic father dwell; Icarus dreaming of another world, a world with the beautiful girl he can’t possess. From there, we criss-cross between those confined spaces, Wings own boyhood and life at large – Icarus falling is about the slow decline into another bad world based on rejection and failure to fit in.
Dressed only in aqua coloured pants and a floppy black singlet, that reveals a series of square tatts under his armpit, Wings dances, jumps and crawls across the Cusask Theatre stage adorned only by a few white feathers. By mid show he is drawing members of the audience into his story, not allowing them the usual distance from a performer. It’s powerful and compelling theatre and certainly more provocative than most of the standard fare on at the Fringe.
Traditional theatre lovers may find Icarus Falling a challenge but those not wedded to the fix ways of sets and costumes will quickly get on his rhetorical path.
Kryztoff Rating 4K
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