Unlimited: Saturn Returns – Southbank Centre / Gateway Arts, London

A review of Saturn Returns by Sonny Nwachukwu, on as part of Unlimited at the Southbank Centre. Two performers confront the weight of history through various forms of self-expression.

First, Some Background

Last night at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room I achieved a few ‘firsts’. This was my first time attending the Unlimited festival, for one. On until 11 September, Unlimited brings together performance, comedy, dance, music and visual art by disabled artists and companies. Between commissioning work and this festival in partnership with the Southbank Centre, Unlimited is the largest supporter of disabled arts globally. Unlimited and the Southbank Centre foster inclusivity and subscribe to a social model of disability, so many different people and groups will see themselves represented here.

Like I was talking about a while ago in the context of the London International Mime Festival, I find festivals a really great way to push the boundaries of my usual repertoire of theatre, exhibitions and so on. Festivals are often where you see things that are truly innovative, get you outside your usual modes of thinking and broaden your horizons. My outing last night to Saturn Returns was a great example, as this was my very first choreopoem. What is that, you ask? Coined by Ntozake Shange in 1976 for her work For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When The Rainbow Is Enuf, a choreopoem combines poetry, dance, music and song. This makes it a nuanced and multi-faceted form of expression well-suited to exploring complex stories.

Saturn Returns

And Saturn Returns is one such complex story. Firstly perhaps a quick note on the title. A Saturn Return is an astrological phenomenon, the return of Saturn approximately every thirty years to the position it was when you were born. So it’s a kind of threshold to maturity, to change. And also carries with it a sense of inevitability, of cyclical patterns, of generational interludes.

This is a nice framework for Sonny Nwachukwu’s choreopoem. In it, two figures interact on a sort of astral plain. Their spirits/souls have met in different configurations over generations: mother and child, lovers, siblings. What has been consistent is their connection, but also the repetition of intergenerational trauma. Ada and Ibo feel weighted down by history, unsure how to break free. Through poems, movement and dance they test out this space they find themselves in. References to pi (π) and circles evoke the eternal and the constant, as does love.

There are also references to real events (and also pop culture) within the poems, which brings me to the last bit of background explanation for this review. Saturn Returns is set against the historic context of the Igbo Landing. This 1803 event saw a group of captured Igbo people, who had survived the Middle Passage and faced a life of enslavement, take control of their ship and walk into the water in what is generally seen as a deliberate act of resistance. The Igbo Landing is an important touchstone in African American folklore and Black art and literature, and here seems to serve as a sort of catalyst for the world of Saturn Returns.

Staging A Choreopoem

In this performance in the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, Ada is performed by Rudzani Moleya and Obi by Durassie Kiangangu. Kiangangu’s performance is naturalistic and direct, while Moleya’s is more lyrical, inviting the audience into the poetry. Between them it is a good balance. Moleya is also particularly impressive and graceful during the dance and movement sequences.

Saturn Returns is simply staged. There is a minimal set, but the atmosphere is mostly evoked through lighting (design by Josh Harriette) and sound (Ffion Campbell-Davies). There is also an interesting use of a screen, which is more than pragmatic captioning. It does provide captions but is also animated, supporting the narrative and action even when no words are spoken. Ben Glover is the video designer, with illustrations by Natalie Cooper). Coming back to the Unlimited festival, I really liked this animated captioning screen. It takes an important accessibility tool and makes it something which adds value for all audience members in an inclusive way.

A note to finish on: this performance, while impressive, is not for everyone. You have to be willing to immerse yourself in the world of the poetry, which means among other things exposure to challenging themes. You also need to be open to a performance style which is multi-disciplinary and where a straightforward narrative is not handed to you. But if you are up for a boundary-pushing, passionately-performed and stimulating piece of work, then look out for additional performances of Saturn Returns either as part of Unlimited (8 September only) or perhaps elsewhere.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

Saturn Returns on until 8 September 2022 as part of Unlimited