Leni Sulusi

Strike are com­plet­ing their Down­stage Res­id­ency with a revis­it of Ele­ment­al. It’s a “per­cuss­ive based the­at­ric­al stage show” which is funny, breath­tak­ing, and intric­ate. Mur­ray Hick­man, Tim Whitta, Leni Sulusi, and Tak­umi Motokawa, are joined by new­bie Tom Broome. Their team work is so good that it’s dif­fi­cult to tell that he’s new. The pieces they play include clas­sic instru­ments as well as the odd Strike-unique instru­ment. Brake drums, bits of car, straws, and bam­boo sticks make an appear­ance along with more fam­il­ar per­cus­sion instur­ments – drums, cym­bals, and the xylo­phone. (BTW, the tri­angle has nev­er looked so sexy.)

There are earplugs but leave them in their little paper bag if you can. I exper­i­mented for the first few pieces and dis­covered that they deaden the edges of the sound. You’ll want to hear the res­on­ance in the notes, oth­er­wise it becomes a gen­er­al wave of noise without nuance or clar­ity.

Also – the Down­stage crew were cor­rect when they said the Strike guys are hot. (Appar­ently it’s okay to notice – accord­ing to the con­ver­sa­tion I eaves­dropped on in the ladies. Thanks for the pic Down­stage!)

  • Strike: Ele­ment­al on at Down­stage to 20 August 2011.