‘Sand’, by Kook Ensemble

Review from: Jacksons Lane, London; 22nd May 2025

From the outset I was curious to know how much circus there would there be in Sand, for, intriguingly, it is listed as ‘Theatre’ at Jacksons Lane (the UK’s leading venue for contemporary circus). However, it is performed by four recent graduates of the National Centre for Circus Arts, under the direction of Sean Kempton and Michaela O’Connor, both of whom also studied there.

Their company Kook Ensemble describes itself as making circus theatre and, with not a word said onstage, Sand is 60 minutes of physical theatre with an inlay of circus skills that would be a shoo in for the London International Mime Festival if it still existed.

The premise is simple: Dylan, played by Myles MacDonald, is living with dementia and his partner, Heather – played by Dilly Taylor – strives to manage the erosion of memory and retain the joy they have had. The couple live by the sea and the simple but clever set, designed by Adrian Linford, shows sand dunes inset with wooden groynes placed to slow or prevent their erosion, and the breakfast room of the couple’s nearby house with a clock that marks the passage of time. A sense of endless bucolic summers is given by the bright lighting, added to by a soundtrack that includes the likes of the Electric Light Orchestra and the Kinks.

The couple’s loving relationship is shown through a playful if slightly surreal domestic routine, for example, setting for breakfast features juggling moves with the bowls and cereal. In a following scene, a second couple, played by Alvaro Grande and Ebony Gumbs, is introduced and, given all four performers are young, I presume them to be playing friends. Shopping in a supermarket, Grande romances Gumbs at the checkout with silly but beguiling tricks with the bits and pieces he wants to buy. In another scene, three sunbathe together, though as Dylan’s dementia worsens, he retreats to the house. It was only after the show that it occurred to me that Grande and Gumbs could be playing young Dylan and Heather whilst MacDonald and Taylor might be playing old(er) Dylan and Heather. That the performance allows for differing interpretation is, arguably, all to the best, conveying the confusion of dementia.

Flashbacks and forwards in time are indicated by a performer moving the hands in the clock; the good times and the harder times are portrayed through movement and manipulation. At the kitchen table, Dylan pours sand in a seemingly incessant flow from a cup, evocative of memory and time draining away, whilst life’s certainties are swept away in flowing acrobatic rolls. Wood pilings that form part of the groynes fall akimbo and attempts to maintain equilibrium with planks and with dementia are thwarted.

As Dylan slips further away – struggling to work out how to put on a jumper, putting keys rather than cereal in a bowl – Heather does what she can to preserve their joy but starts to unravel herself under the strain. Dylan’s manipulation skills decay and the balls he tries to juggle fragment into sand.

Despite the struggle with dementia and the inevitable outcome, this is not a sombre show for it focuses on the care and love that Dylan and Heather have as they live their seaside lives with as much joy and optimism as they can find, whilst the circus skills neatly inlaid to the story add depth to our understanding as well as being great to watch.

Credits

Created and produced by Kook Ensemble, co-commissioned by Landmark Theatres.

Directed by Sean Kempton and Michaela O’Connor

Actor: Alvaro Grande

Actor: Dilly Taylor

Actor: Myles MacDonald

Actor: Ebony Gumbs

Produced by – Tracey-Anne Cutbush

Composer – Akintayo Akinbode

Sound Design – Peter Buffery

Set Design – Adrian Linford

Costume Design – Stephanie O’Hara

Lighting Design – Tracey-Anne Cutbush and relit by Peter Buffery

Assistant Producer – Stevie Taylor

Production Manager – Abigail Sargant

Company Stage Manager – Thomas Manly

Technical Stage Manager – Peter Buffery

Lighting Programmer – Richard Smith

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