If you think Peter Pan had problems with his shadow, you should see what Tangram Kollektiv have to contend with. In the German-French company’s clever and understated Shades of Shadows, performers Sarah Chaudon and Clara Palau y Herrero find themselves in a landscape where shadows refuse to behave.
Staged in the Festival theatre studio, it starts out looking like a standard-issue piece of shadow puppetry as the two performers project the silhouette of a Dr Seuss-like city on to a screen. They focus in on a room in one of the buildings where a couple drink at a table, lit by an Anglepoise lamp. Mimicking this image, carefully positioning themselves around the table, mugs in hand, they upturn the normal order of things: the shadow comes first, real life second.
