Photo credits Simon Prince.
Some Like It Hip Hop is adapted from the book by Kate Prince MBE and Felix Harrison and performed by the extremely talented ensemble group of twenty-two dancers from Zoonation.
The narrator deserves a lot of credit for his performance he is very clear and concise. He is extremely charismatic and engages with the audience throughout the entire production it was clear why he had been chosen to play this role. A really likeable character and talented actor.
The story is about grief hurt and how we process these feelings after we have lost someone dear to us. The central character the Governor in this production after being introduced to the audience starts of the play by pulling a black blanket across the Sun which is centred at the rear of the stage and plunging his world into darkness.
There are four singers in this production made up of two ladies and two men. Although they are all very good the two females are the stronger voices. When they initially first started to sing the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
The dancer photographed below who plays the governor is an extremely intimidating presence on the stage his strong demeanour and impressive dancing skills make him an excellent lead character. He has strong body language and carries himself perfectly although as the storyline unfolds you start to see a softer side to him and understand why he has become the way he is.
After the death of his wife he sinks into a long deep dark depression as well as turning the sun off at the beginning he then proceeds to ban all books by burning them and actively advocates the suppression of women within his environment. It’s repeated throughout the musical that “women should be seen and not heard!”
The plot is based around male dominance and we watch as two of the ladies are thrown out of the factory for rebelling against the men as seen in the picture below. They decide to disguise themselves as men in order to return to work in the safety of the factory walls. Their disguises are fairly obvious that they are masquerading as men but this doesn’t spoil the storyline.
Set designer Ben Stones has dressed the stage in a 1920s style. The scaffolding based structures are interchangeable and the scene changes are very smooth. It complements the production and the factory gates could easily pass as being real gates.
With such a high standard of dancing and movement in this production, it is hardly surprising that they were three choreographers Kate prince MBE, Tommy Franzen and Carrie-Anne Ingrouille along with two assistant choreographers for the large cast.
Overall this is an extremely good production although there should have been a warning advisory note put on the production sheet or a sign in the auditorium to warn against the scenes of violence against women, which I found uncomfortable to watch.
Four Stars.
https://www.mayflower.org.uk/whats-on/some-like-it-hip-hop-2019/
About Zoonation
Zoonation the Kate prints company was founded by Kate prince in 2002 and is best known for its work in the theatre creating full-length narrative dance Productions strongly influenced Productions strongly influenced by hip hop culture and music. we fortify this work with an extensive programme of Engagement and working with different Communities and young artists to increase the skills knowledge and confidence in our styles of Dance Theatre
Twitter @ZooNationUK
Instagram @zoonationuk
Facebook @ZooNationUK
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