Response Theatre Company bill themselves as the UK’s first Meisner-technique based dance company. Their new show, I Made You A Mixtape is a nostaligic dive into a 90’s dorm party, where each of the 9 dancers tells us a story through dance, set to an iconic 90’s song.
The dancers are undeniably talented, and their expression through the improvised dance choreography is strong. However the stories feel like they come and go - there isn’t a clear line of connection it feels as through the characters only exist in their moment of feature, and otherwise melt into a nondescript company of background dancers.
While I enjoyed the idea and the premise to creation is interesting, it didn’t quite hang together to me. It felt like watching an exploratory exercise rather than a show. The inclusion of a live drummer and guitarist over the recorded songs helped make the performance more lively, however the sound at times clipped, making it challenging to listen to.
Also…a picky note, but to position it in the 90’s but have a Green Day American Idiot poster upstage really undermined the given circumstances….