Deluge: Jam stained, carrying a piano, and wearing a step ladder, Gabi Flares spills over

4 stars

Deluge by Gabi Flares is one of those unique shows you’ll only see at the Fringe. This dance performance begins with Gabi Flares covered in jam stains, carrying a piano, and wearing a step ladder. Yes, you read that correctly. At the start of the show, Flares spends a moment making expectant eye contact with members of the audience, inspiring nervous laughter and a bit of genuine encouragement. I was almost tempted to get on stage and help her with her props; such is Flares’ charm.

Once the show begins in earnest, Flares pulls you into a tapestry of grief and anxiety pierced by moments of comedy and extreme horror. Deluge pulls its audience into the intimate parts of the performer’s life, assuming their consent from having purchased a ticket. The audience quickly discovers this is a story about a traumatic breakup. Interposed, throughout are stories of grief taken from interviews Flares did online. The ladder, which remains with her like an awkward backpack, becomes a narrative metaphor as well as an acrobatic prop, revealing Flares’ true talents for storytelling and dance.

Having boarded this ship, the audience is now adrift in the storm of Flares’ grief. Moments of comedic absurdity and abstract musical compositions are sprinkled throughout a startling psychosexual dance that relates the intensity of complex emotions Flares processes on stage. The performance doesn’t move towards an end so much as it continues to circle a clogged drain until it spills over in a flood of emotion and jam. The tide of this catharsis then slowly ebbs away until Deluge becomes a tiny drip in the pool of our subconscious to settle with the rest of our trauma.

Deluge, Big Belly at Underbelly, Cowgate, till 30th August

Photo credit: Julia Testa