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Voila! Theatre Festival
A genre-bending exploration of cultural identity through parkour, dance, and clowning that shows exciting promise and moments of striking physical poetry despite its occasionally muddied narrative.Summary
Rating
Good
What happens when breaking a time machine forces you to confront your cultural past? As part of Voila! Festival, at Camden People’s Theatre‘s, Ancestral Time Travel Agency turns this sci-fi premise into a playground for exploring identity through movement, memory, and mayhem.
When Agents Bill and Louis (Isabella Leung and Louiseanne Wong) accidentally damage their temporal device, they find themselves unstuck in time, grappling with both personal and cultural histories as they struggle to fix it before their boss, a very temperamental cat, finds out. Their journey through time becomes a metaphorical exploration of existing between Eastern and Western cultures, with clever symbolic touches – like the same materials representing both historical foot bindings and the broken parts of their time machine.
The minimal set – essentially scaffolding that represents the time machine – becomes a versatile playground for both dramatic and comedic moments. Wong and Leung demonstrate impressive physical control, alternating between parkour-inspired sequences that showcase genuine athletic skill and intentionally clumsy stumbles that bring welcome laughs to heavier themes. The lighting design proves particularly inspired, with sharp shifts between cool technological blues and warmer nostalgic ambers that help ground us in different temporal zones, while an eclectic soundtrack seamlessly blends traditional Eastern instruments with contemporary beats.
The show really finds its groove in several standout scenes. Wong’s performance during a conversation with her mother is particularly striking – executing fluid movements across the set while navigating a loaded parent-child dialogue, physically embodying the dance between personal ambition and family obligation. Leung’s clowning serves as a tension relief in between heavier scenes, whilst also providing occasional emotional whiplash when its meaning becomes clear. Traditional elements like foot binding are explored through contemporary dance, while a pulsing casino sequence proves historical themes can be effectively examined through hip-hop.
Not all elements land as successfully. The humour occasionally feels forced, particularly when leaning on dated internet references and memes that already feel like relics from another timeline. These moments of levity, while clearly intended to balance the show’s weightier themes, sometimes break the carefully constructed atmosphere rather than enhance it.
But when the various performance styles click together, the effect is magnetic. The show builds to an electric finale where thunderous stomps punctuate powerful spoken word – a celebration of female strength across generations that literally shakes the theatre floor. These moments demonstrate just how effective the fusion of different theatrical approaches can be when wielded with purpose.
However, as a work-in-progress, there are still wrinkles to iron out. The narrative thread connecting these varied sequences sometimes frays, leading to tonal whiplash between scenes. The time travel framework, while creative, concludes with a somewhat unsatisfying “it was all a dream” suggestion that undercuts some of the show’s impact. There’s room to strengthen the connections between its diverse elements and clarify the central message.
Despite its rough edges, Ancestral Time Travel Agency pulses with promise. Through its unique blend of parkour, dance, and physical theatre, the show achieves something remarkable – it takes experiences deeply rooted in Chinese culture and transforms them into a universally relevant story about breaking free from society’s constraints. With some tightening, this time-bending exploration could become truly extraordinary.
Writer by: Isabella Leung
Movement Direction by: Louiseanne Wong
Ancestral Time Travel Agency has completed its current run.
