TRAPPED
nytheatre.com review by Sarah Wolfman-Robichaud
August 15, 2003
A young girl runs up and down a hallway, screaming, knocking, pounding,
and begging to get into many doors, all of which contain something
unique, grotesque, fantastical, or even beautiful within. A heartbeat of
music streams out so loudly from the speakers that, as an audience
member, it’s difficult to distinguish if the rhythm is in your head,
part of the piece, or even exists. In a film, the graceful body of the
girl levitates from shot to shot on a white canvas and then one of the
doors opens…These are just some of the images racing through your head after seeing Trapped, conceived, directed, and performed by the amazing Ksenia Vidyaykina. There’s just so much to take in. How is it possible that on a clear stage, with only a white canvas backdrop, a red scarf hanging from above, and simple music, that a dancer/performer can fill up a space so entirely? Ksenia does. Simply put: Ksenia knows exactly what she’s doing. The fact that this entire piece (costumes, music, video, set, direction, etc.) was created and woven out of the mind of one person leaves the audience without any room for doubt that this is a complete performance. Nothing could be added, and nothing could be changed. It’s borderline perfection.
Ksenia offers a new way to look at pre-existing elements of your world, as she portrays a stripper who removes too much, a mermaid who cuts through to the essentials of who she is, a singer who transcends the song, a black widow who begs for sustenance….and all of them seen through the eyes of a young girl. See this show. Put yourself in Ksenia’s world for an hour, and then try to see things the way you used to: it may be hard to turn back. You are trapped.
