Beguiling!

My dear friend Leila, who I studied with in Cape Town, is begining to make quite a name for herself as a performer.

Below is a review from tonight.co.za

Aural and visual beauty

Whimsical Isabella will steal your heart

June 4, 2008
By Peter Tromp

Isabella. Directed by Rob van Vuuren, with Scott Sparrow and Leila Anderson. At the Intimate Theatre until Saturday.

Walking out after Isabella wasn't that easy. I noticed that the audience remained in their seats for some time after it had ended.

I could only imagine that they were experiencing what I was feeling. The world that it had presented was so beautiful and intoxicating that one did not want to brave the boring by comparison outside reality quite so soon. But sooner or later, all of us had to leave.

Luckily, Isabella is the kind of show that will illuminate your waking (and probably slumbering hours) for days with its sumptuous images and voluptuous mood.

Although I was at a loss to understand the significance of what I had just seen, I knew I was seduced. And sometimes, that's more than enough.

The production takes place in the Graveyard Theatre, a gloomy space that seems to gobble up the shows of performers who almost unknowingly find themselves there.

At the heart of this ghostly kingdom lies Sebastian (Scott Sparrow), a shadowy figure, but an ultimately good intentioned, if slightly crazy one.

His world is turned upside down when the gypsy dancer Isabella (Leila Anderson), someone who has lost her dance, shows up. The two form a tentative partnership at first, but it becomes clear quite soon that there is something very special blossoming between them. Then Sebastian sets himself up for the ultimate test.

It sounds rather whimsical, almost self-indulgently so, but I challenge anyone to care about the incongruities of Isabella while sitting through it. Random details, such as a stubborn record player that needs to be seduced by the performers, and the thundering voice of the theatre master, are details that will stick with one.

I'm at a loss though to what the overall significance is of all of this. It is of course not necessary for any work to reveal the intent behind its creation. Isabella goes down very easy, like a smooth alcohol, but the only lasting food for thought in it has something to do with the mysterious art of performance, and the difficulty behind its conception. It is quite possible that it will mean different things to different people, and that's just dandy.

Whatever the show's meaning, its arresting and inviting aural and visual beauty is a gift that is more than adequate.

The former can be ascribed to director Rob van Vuuren's enduring pre-occupation with evocative soundscapes, and the latter to Anderson's arresting onstage persona, as well as her dazzling costume designs.

Sparrow is a sprightly, highly energetic and pleasurable presence, but there is no disputing who the star of Isabella is. The word "beguiling" might have been invented with Anderson in mind.

How often is one made to feel special by being the object of a seduction in any art form these days?

Isabella will make you swoon.