A standing ovation is no small feat. As the house lights of the venue went up, I observed no dry eye in sight. To elicit this kind of emotion both in its extremities of joy and pain is why Glass Child is easily one of the most powerfully emotive performances I have ever seen.
Making its Edinburgh Fringe debut, Glass Child is a spellbinding documentary-like fusion of dance, theatre and storytelling performed and created by siblings Kayah and Maitreyah Guenther.
The audience is first welcomed by Maitreyah, affectionately known as Mup, who speaks of her childhood in Australia, her family and her hometown with such reverence, you simply cannot avert your eyes. Then, Kayah, a young man with Down’s syndrome and Mup’s brother, enters the stage. From this point forward the audience is enveloped in a profoundly affecting performance displaying the deep and enduring love between the siblings, and their resilience against external judgement.
Glass Child movingly displays how, when verbal communication falters, physical movement expresses the inexpressible, with dance becoming the epicentre of the performance. As seen through a projection of a home video, Kayah and Maitreya grew up dancing together and it becomes an axis in which the audience deepens their understanding of the siblings’ relationship. It is simultaneously a tool to communicate both immense joy and acute pain. At one point, Maitreyah asks Kayah what it feels like when he is ignored, and Kayah responds with a deep exhale, generating the impression that his heart is deflating. It is moments like this that express the power of physical vocabulary.
Furthermore, the sound design by Anna Whitaker and lighting design by Chloe Ogilvie contributed immensely to the immersion of the performance. During the final section of Kayah and Maitreyah’s beautiful choreography, the haunting shadow work and dynamic sounds gave me goosebumps
Glass Child is a potent example of how theatre can powerfully move audiences to tears through its joyful vulnerability and exceptional performances.
Glass Child ran until 16 August at The Old Lab at Summerhall
Image by Kate Holmes, provided to The Student for press use.
