Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a modern retelling of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's classic tale of a mariner and his crew who are punished with drought and death for killing their saviour, an albatross. In amongst these supernatural events the mariner is the only one spared and, as a result, repents. The Tiger Lillies are a remarkably talented musical trio. Mike Pickering is a very fine percussionist with a flair for the dramatic. Adrian Stout plays the contra bass, musical saw, sings, and is easily the best player of the Theremin that I have ever had the pleasure to hear. Lead vocalist, Martyn Jacques, has one of the most impressive falsetto voices around and also plays the accordion and piano very well.
The highlight of the production however was the group's use of Mark Holthusen's deliberately baroque inspired 3D projections. These projections were seamlessly intertwined into the dramatic and theatrical action of the evening. Moreover, the projections provided the visual element of the narrative which was necessary in order to allow the audience to follow the story of the Mariner. Without these excellent projections the theatricality of the show would have been lost and it would only have been a concert, albeit of excellent music.
While this performance was very entertaining and well performed production it was not, however, without fault. Occasionally some of the projections are placed in a way which seems to become overly intrusive, and cause us to ignore the musicians altogether. Additionally, whilst most of the music was excellent, the first half hour of the show featured generally less engaging music than the remaining hour, and seemed to cause the show to drag a little. Finally while Jacques's persona may be well intentioned, the rudeness with which he greeted the excited and very appreciative audience at the conclusion of the performance was not appreciated and added a sour note to a generally wonderfully performance.
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