Out of the darkness, sandbagged like a flood plain dwelling, there appears a platformed trench shack. Atop stands a demented figure in rags, equal parts Robinson Crusoe and Hiroo Onoda (the Japanese lieutenant who continued to fight for 29 years after World War II was over). What unfolds next is bizarre and dystopian. Returning to the stage for his first live tour in six years, actor, dancer and visual-theatre maker Al Seed (The Factory, Oog, The Spinners) reunites here with co-producers Vanishing Point, with feverish, fetid intent. 

Appearing alone on stage for the duration, Seed’s choreography unravels through the major tenets of contemporary dance: alignment, breathwork, gesture, flow and intention. He perverts robotic movements to an evocative soundtrack that hisses and grinds, and occasionally melts into something sweeter and more mystical. Seed’s bravura performance is matched every step of the way by the grimy set and soundscape design. 

There’s method in the madness here, however. Plinth is allegedly an attempt to examine the weaponisation of statues; their power and truths in this age of decolonisation and deconstruction. The myths of Theseus, Ariadne and the Minotaur are examined through a lens of violent complicity. There are longueurs and moments of misjudgement here for sure, but the sections that work have a weird energy that propels and ultimately echoes the words of liberator and anti-slavery activist William Lloyd Garrison: ‘the apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.’ 

Al Seed: Plinth is on tour in November and February; reviewed at Dundee Rep.