A visually creative and touching show with some lovely moments, though its loose structure means the emotional impact doesn’t always fully land
I wanted to like Sand more than I did. The concept is a strong one—a couple dealing with the slow, painful reality of dementia—and there are definitely moments that land emotionally. But as a whole, it didn’t quite come together for me.
The story follows Dylan and Heather, a long-term couple trying to hold on to each other as Dylan’s memory and sense of self begin to deteriorate. It’s a powerful subject, and there’s something original in the way Kook Ensemble choose to explore it—through circus, movement, and juggling instead of dialogue or more traditional storytelling. At times, this approach is really effective. There’s a tenderness in how the couple pass objects between them, or echo each other’s movements, that says a lot without needing words.
But where the show shines visually, the emotional throughline sometimes gets lost. The storyline felt a bit loose and hard to follow in places—I found myself wondering what was going on or what we were meant to take from certain scenes. Some of the circus sequences, while impressive, went on a bit too long and seemed to pull focus from the actual heart of the story. I think I was waiting for something to properly hit, and it never quite did.
That’s not to say there weren’t standout moments. The sand metaphor is used nicely throughout—Dylan pouring sand instead of water, trying to juggle with sand-filled balls that fall apart in his hands—it’s a clear image of how memory slips away. There’s also a scene where audience members are asked to blow feathers into the air, which sounds a bit odd on paper but ended up being quite moving. It captured the feeling of trying to keep something delicate from falling apart, which mirrors Heather’s struggle.
The performers are strong, especially Dilly Taylor as Heather. She gives a lot emotionally and physically—you can see the toll it’s taking on her as things progress. Her dancing shifts from soft and flowing to tired and robotic, which is a smart way to show burnout and loss. Myles MacDonald as Dylan captures the confusion and frustration of someone trying to keep up but slowly getting left behind. There’s a sad moment where he watches from the side, no longer part of the group, which says more than any dialogue could.
But for me, the balance wasn’t quite right. The acrobatics and physical theatre often felt like the main event, with the emotional weight of the story added in around the edges. It’s clear a lot of skill and thought went into the movement, but I wanted more time spent on the relationship itself, more clarity on what was happening emotionally. Sometimes it felt like style over substance.
The use of two versions of the couple—young and older—was a good idea in theory, but I’m not sure it added as much as it could have. There were sweet moments, like young Dylan trying (and failing) to juggle to impress Heather, but it didn’t feel fully integrated into the main storyline. I get the sense it was meant to add warmth and backstory, but I didn’t feel that much more invested because of it.
Overall, Sand is an original and visually interesting piece, and I really like that Kook Ensemble are doing something different. It just didn’t feel fully developed to me. There are some lovely moments, but as a whole, it needed a tighter structure and more emotional depth to really land. A promising concept, but I left feeling a bit underwhelmed