COLLABORATOR By Ockham’s Razor, Review by TréTré
THE COLLABORATOR By Ockham’s Razor At the Lowry Review by TréTré
The theatre was full to the brim. People of all ages had waited eagerly in their seats, buzzing with anticipation. I could hear their whispers ripple through the theatre.
Many audience members had been greeted personally by the performers — a warm, disarming touch that set the tone beautifully.
But this performance had not simply been a circus act. It had been a journey. An enveloping, emotional journey following a couple navigating life’s highs and lows, and continuing forward regardless.
The story had been told partly through narration, but mostly through aerial work, dance, and a surprising dash of physics. The piece unfolded across six distinct acts, each exploring a different facet of partnership.
Charlotte Mooney, performer and founder, had opened the show with a brief introduction before presenting her husband and co‑performer, Alex Harvey. A simple, understated beginning to a deeply layered performance.
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Act 1 – The Aerial Dance
Alex and Charlotte had mounted a trapeze bar suspended high above the stage — a bar specially redesigned for their act and inherited from a 75‑year‑old circus friend who had performed his final show one morning and passed away that same afternoon.
The scene had been intense, intimate, and profoundly symbolic. Their movements evoked struggle, trust, failure, compromise, entanglement, and relief — a cascade of emotions hitting all at once. Again and again, they lifted, supported, tested, and surrendered to one another until their bodies seemed to merge into a single entity.
Their love had conquered.
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Act 2 – Waves
This act had mirrored another phase of their relationship — the peaks and troughs of life’s emotional tides. Waves that knock you down. Waves that cancel each other out. Waves that can be deadly.
Then, descending into view, ten metal plates had begun to swing. At first chaotic and unpredictable, they gradually found their rhythm, settling into a hypnotic harmony. A peaceful coexistence. Bliss.
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Act 3 – Dark Days
A theatrical, exaggerated dance sequence, this act had explored fear, frustration, and emotional turbulence. It felt like another interpretation of the same themes from Act 2 — two people who sometimes hindered each other, sometimes helped each other, but always found their way back.
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Act 4 – The Days You Just Keep Going
Pure theatre.
No words had been spoken — none were needed. Alex and Charlotte had crouched on the floor, each holding one end of a long, thick piece of string. They tried to keep it straight while shaking their ends simultaneously. The string curled, twisted, bent, and writhed.
Was this life trying to stay on the straight and narrow? Was this the unpredictability of the everyday? Was life itself like a piece of string — full of knots, tangles, and unseen turns?
The string held them together, bound them even, just like marriage. Beautifully simple. Quietly profound.
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Act 5 – Coupled Pendulum
The pair had stood motionless before two equally motionless pendulums. Alex had set one in motion, its rotation transferring energy to the other — a literal demonstration of physics and a metaphor for partnership.
The pendulums had spun faster and faster, building momentum until they inevitably slowed. Energy depletes. Time is finite. A striking reminder of life’s limits and its urgency.
A deeply thought‑provoking act, open to countless interpretations.
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Act 6 – The Days We Will Miss
A final aerial dance on the trapeze bar.
It had felt intimate. It had felt sorrowful. It had felt like one last dance.
Their movements were intricate, tender, and full of emotion. The act ended with them hanging upside down, entwined in what I interpreted as an infinity symbol — a promise of togetherness, not an ending but a beginning.
Absolutely beautiful.
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After the show, I had spoken with fellow audience members. Jane, seated to my right, had admitted she was confused at first, but everything had clicked into place as the performance unfolded. For her, it reflected the chaos of home life — rushing children to school, juggling responsibilities, relying on one another to get through the day.
David, younger and seated to my left, had seen something entirely different: tragedy, fragility, two people barely holding on but persevering through life’s harshest challenges.
Two viewers, two interpretations — the mark of powerful theatre.
Alex and Charlotte had closed the evening with a 20‑minute Q&A, which had been incredibly insightful.
Overall, the performance had been brilliant and compelling. Fifty minutes had been the perfect length — long enough to immerse, short enough to leave you wanting more. A seamless blend of theatre, dance, and physics.
Enough said.
Review by TréTré WFM Radio 97.2 – Media & Entertainment
Photo credit: Jamie Dennis, TréTré
