For one horrible moment at the beginning, I thought Stuntman might be just an hour of two blokes playfighting, and while this new devised physical piece from lead artist Pete Lannon does come with some kind of narrative, my original fears were pretty much realised.
With a blue and a red ‘corner’ made out of lights and the obligatory ‘Eye of the Tiger’ playing as we enter the space it was pretty much guaranteed that fighting would be at the heart of Stuntman. Geared up like typical action movie heroes, our duo of performers set about demonstrating a number of ways they can hurt or kill each other.
David Banks and Sadiq Ali do have stories to share; David was once in an actual action movie before training in boxing and mixed martial arts. Sadiq has never been in a fight but does want to punch someone. The stories are often told into a microphone making for a more intimate and honest experience.
The action sequences in the relatively small Tech Cube 0 Space look impressive, and Banks and Ali are clearly very talented at what they do, however, everything develops quite slowly and everything about this show is just too repetitive.
At it’s core, Stuntman is trying to get across several important messages. It explores men’s relationships with violence through the lens of these action movies we all know so well. It tackles homophobia and the devastation left behind by violence perpetrated on drunken ‘lads’ nights out. But two many of these important messages are lost in the melee of cartoonish violence.
Banks and Ali have a very natural rapport with the audience, giving this a feel of being semi-improvised and that leads to some very comedic moments. The fight sequences are accompanied by sound effects, and the performers making their own ‘swish’ and ‘bam’ noises as children might do in the playground, it’s momentarily funny, but again detracts from what could be a very compelling story.
While there are some impressive moments visually, Stuntman misses the mark in narrative, Banks and Ali are talented and the whole show could be elevated by giving them more to do.
