Ke Meng

Ke Meng

Theatre. Education. Culture. I work in the showbiz in London and am a passionate theatregoer and exhibition/museum goer. Loving to communicate and exchange views. Occasionally grumbling about life in London. Reviewer for A Young(ish）Perspective. As a v. honest reviewer, I'm open to any invitation of reviewing.
  • Joined: December 16, 2023
  • Articles: 216
  • Comments: 4

REVIEW: State Ballet of Georgia: Swan Lake

Reading Time: 3 minutesMaybe a bit reluctantly yet curiously, we'd love to sneak a peek into the exotic taste of Soviet legacy of ballet tradition. This is most prominent in ACT I, where the ensemble dances in a gentle and airy style, utterly different from what we typically see here in the UK. If you are especially used to the more powerful and vital presentation here, you may find the Georgian style too soft and light. You may even tell from their different shapes of ballet hands: their fingertips are slightly more curved, their middle fingers slightly lowered, and the overall curve more fluid.

REVIEW: The Dao of Unrepresentative British Chinese Experience

Reading Time: 2 minutesWritten by Daniel York Loh as a semi-autobiography and directed by Alice Kornitzer, Kakilang's production of The Dao of Unrepresentative British Chinese Experience explores a Sino-British experience that feels remote yet suddenly recalled after the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighted in the production through the racist chant "Chinese Japanese dirty knees," which hadn't been heard for a long time.

REVIEW: Yerbagüena (Bright Dark)

Reading Time: 2 minutesConceived and choreographed by renowned flamenco dancer Eva Yerbabuena, with musical direction and guitar by Paco Jarana, dancer Christian Lozano, percussionist Daniel Suarez, and a singing ensemble (Segundo Falcon, Antonio "El Turry," Miguel Ortega, and Manuel de Gines), Yerbagüena (Bright Dark) is a flamenco piece that is simultaneously traditional and experimental, skillful and powerful, sensual and mind-blowing.

REVIEW: YAMATO: The Drummers of Japan/Hinori – The Wings of Phoenix

Reading Time: 2 minutesIt’s a feast for drummers, rhythm lovers, and all those seeking to rejuvenate their spirits after a long, tiring day. Directed by Masa Ogawa, Hinori: The Wings of Phoenix showcases the pinnacle of Japanese Taiko performance, offering a pure, ultimate display of showmanship that audiences will both enjoy and respect. Toured in 2019 before the pandemic, the show’s name symbolically reflects London’s welcome to Yamato’s nirvana, or conversely, Yamato’s celebration of London’s survival.

REVIEW: Passing Strange

Reading Time: 2 minutesWritten by Stew, with music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, this 2008 Broadway production ventures itself into the 2024 Young Vic under the direction of Liesl Tommy. On a V-shaped stage resembling an indie rock concert (do they borrow it from their neighbour Machinal by the way?), the story unveils itself through a narrator (Giles Terera). The young man, referred to as "Youth" (Keenan Munn-Francis), discards his upbringing, attempts to find himself by wearing other personas to fit in, and finally matures at the price of losing a loved one. Though Munn-Francis indeed manoeuvres the character blending fragility, sincerity and perplexity, the plot remains still as dull as you might predict.

REVIEW: May B

Photo by Hervé Deroo

Reading Time: 3 minutesImagine yourself sitting inside Sadler's Wells, enveloped in absolute darkness and serenity. A baritone voice begins to hum Shubert’s art songs filled with suspense and sorrow. Suddenly, your hearing becomes extraordinarily sharp, almost as keen as a beast's. You hear someone coughing, someone sighing, and another zipping up their jacket. You feel a bit annoyed: is the audience always this loud and noisy? This sensation creates awareness and alienation: you belong to a group sharing the same state—the audience—yet it is you who feels that such state is disturbing, preventing you from enjoying the show. You are alone.

REVIEW: Scottish Ballet – A Streetcar Named Desire

Reading Time: 3 minutesIntense, sensual, poignant. Dangerously intriguing, A Streetcar Named Desire has continuously lured its audience for more than half a century. Years ago, Scottish Ballet transformed this Tennessee Williams classic into a ballet piece blending traditional ballet techniques with contemporary choreography and a modern jazz orchestra (scored by Peter Salem and performed by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra). Several years later, it revisits Sadler's Wells under the direction of Nancy Meckler and choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.