Benji Reid sits centre stage, flanked by two huge screens, his hunched shoulders lit by a single spotlight. Camera in hand, he looks intently at the figures posing in the light in front of him. A bell rings. Act one. He soundlessly presses the shutter. There’s a pause. Then the photograph he has taken appears in sharp focus on the screens. Life and art in a single moment, its transformative power embodied in front of our eyes.
Reid used to be a famous dancer, a leading member of Soul II Soul, and an early pioneer of hip-hop theatre. Then he turned away from performance and with equal success took up photography. John McGrath, director of the Manchester international festival, has coaxed him back to the stage. The result is sensational.
