Coronet theatre, London
Singer and actor Tara Hugo delivers a series of spoken word reminiscences backed by an underwhelming score in a piece that verges on the self-indulgent and downright sentimental
‘A deeply moving and personal exploration of the searing complexities of life, parenting and being parented,” promised the publicity for Philip Glass’s latest work to reach Europe. Infinity has a libretto by the photographer and film-maker Arturo Béjar, who, with Nikki Appino, also co-directs this strangely insubstantial show, which features the singer and actor Tara Hugo, a regular Glass collaborator.
Hugo delivers a series of reminiscences in an affectionate, sometimes slightly ironic tone that’s not unlike some of David Sedaris’s tales. Whether these tangled stories of families and the changing relationships between their generations are real or imagined is never made obvious. Neither is it clear whether the grainy home movies of family parties and holidays that are screened behind the performance “go” with the anecdotes – perhaps depicting the parents and children mentioned in the narration – or whether they just provide some visual element in what otherwise seems a rather long and uneventful 55-minute recitation.
