I SWALLOWED A MOON MADE OF IRON by Njo Kong Kie (Music Picnic/Point View Art Association/Canadian Stage). At Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley). Runs to May 26. $29-$59. 416-368-3110, canadianstage.com. See listing. Rating: NNN
Set to the verse of Chinese poet and factory worker Xu Lizhi, Njo Kong Kies latest work is a meditation on the hidden costs, both corporeal and spiritual, of meeting global consumer demand for digital devices in all their ceaseless iterations.
Xu was only 24 in 2014 when, following the example set by 14 of his predecessors, he jumped to his death from the roof of the Shenzhen complex of Foxconn, a major electronics manufacturer. Riddled with portent and despair, Xus poems speak of the baleful sacrifices made by desperate people to secure and survive grinding work.
Named for one of Xus most evocative poems, which tracks a bodys incremental absorption of industrial detritus, I Swallowed A Moon Made of Iron honours Xus legacy in a series of pieces for piano and voice performed by Njo, accompanied by Ryan McNabbs subtly unnerving soundscapes and Ao Ieong Weng Fongs video projections, whose images invoke rust, airborne metal shavings and cold, distant waters, and whose ever-shifting textures recall the work of William Kentridge.
In striking contrast to Njos previous work, last years playful, sensorial ensemble piece Picnic At The Cemetery, Moon is austere, bleak and arguably a bit too mimetic of Xus poems: the stripped-down, tasteful romanticism of Njos piano work and the cri-de-cur quality of his singing dont place Xus poems in relief so much as underline their already fully expressed woe. Only the cycles final song, performed off-stage, offers something closer to juxtaposition.
A current Canadian Stage artist-in-residence known for his tenure as La La La Human Steps musical director, Njo is an extraordinary artist capable of working in a broad array of styles and tones.
The themes of his latest piece are of vital import and its presentation is respectful and meticulously crafted. Above all, I Swallowed A Moon constitutes a platform for Xus remarkable poetry, which anchors a universal message of industrial exploitation in the contemporary Chinese experience.
I just found myself wishing the music Xu inspired could have been a little more adventurous.
