Sound Cistem (Zoo Playground)

Physical theatre has an amazing ability to communicate messages through the bodies of performers. Plaster Cast Theatre’s Sound Cistem explores how the bodies of performers Lizzie Morris and Ayden Brouwers, and all trans people, are made "controversial" by transphobia and hate.

The performance is formed of interviews with a diverse range of transgender people between the ages of 18 and 25, while Morris and Brouwers dance to the thumping rave soundtrack that plays over them. The interviewees discuss transphobia (both overt and covert), the desires and expectations of self-expression, and ultimately self-love. The variety of perspectives and experience give audiences of any gender identity food for thought.

Morris and Brouwers are clearly talented dancers and interpret the pains, joys, and internal conflicts of their subjects through their powerful movement. They play with the ideas of gendered and ungendered dance and walk the line between cis-presenting and rejecting the binary altogether. Although the blend of dance with the interviews has a strong narrative and communicates their message effectively, the concept is a little too simple for its own good. It lacks texture and variety, but it is nevertheless a dynamic and articulate performance. Four stars.