“Light, sound, music, voice and movement, contrasting the 500 year old building with contemporary theatre practice” – this is what was promised of These Walls, and what I eagerly anticipated as I joined the queue of people waiting to be admitted to the ground of King’s College by the back gate. The performance began before we reached the Chapel itself, with several eerily lit individual singers placed at various points along the route to the chapel. Their voices, drifting out to meet us in the dark night, should have produced an ethereal atmosphere; unfortunately, this was ruined by some extremely rude audience members who persisted in chattering for the duration of the walk to the Chapel. The singers, however, must be given credit for their excellent performances throughout the production.

I felt my excitement grow as the doors to the Chapel were thrown open and we were led into the antechapel. We were allowed some time to appreciate the architecture of this imposing and beautiful building as a voice drifted down to us from the other end of the chapel, and we were shown an impressive lighting display. It must be noted that technically, the quality of the production was very high throughout, and the lighting design in particular was very impressive, with many sets of lighting located around the chapel.

Then began the choreography, and the direction of the production changed drastically. Before I discuss the choreography in depth, I would like to clarify something: I am not opposed to contemporary theatre practice. I have seen many productions in which contemporary theatre practices are effectively used, and I have in the past been extremely impressed with the depth which physical theatre and movement sequences can lend to a production. I am often disappointed with Cambridge theatre as I am left feeling that it has failed to push the limits of modern choreography, to offer anything ‘interesting’ or ‘different’. I was therefore extremely excited to see a performance that would utilise modern physical theatre techniques, as well as pay homage to the magnificence of the building in which it was held.

Sadly, the choreography failed to achieve any of this. The first few minutes involved the actors staring at the ceiling of the chapel, which does indeed reflect everyone’s first reaction upon entering. This, however, in no way aided my appreciation of the architecture, as I was unsure whether I was supposed to be contemplating the motionless actors, or following their lead and taking time to appreciate the chapel myself. This highly unsubtle section of choreography therefore actually did the opposite of what it was intended to achieve, detracting from our ability to gaze at the chapel ceiling.

The next choreography involved the actors walking around in front of the audience in straight lines, and in a trance-like state. This continued for much longer than was necessary and was, quite frankly, extremely dull to behold. So far, the choreography had been utterly lacking in any exciting or innovative techniques. The next section of choreography offered a little more hope when the actors formed a group in the middle of an aisle, and physical theatre techniques were effectively employed as the actors recited lines of poetry, such as those from Henry VI Part III “my crown is called content/A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy”. On the whole, though, contentedness was not a feeling which I was able to enjoy in regards to this production.

The actors, and then the audience, progressed forwards into the choir of the chapel, and we waited for what felt like an age while the actors lit the candles in the choir stalls. The clicking of modern gas lighters really detracted from the still, reflective atmosphere which should have been present in the building. Transitions were in general a major problem for the production; they all lasted for much too long, with the audience often left to bump into one another as they attempted to reach their seats. Once in the choir area, the actors performed another section of choreography, which was less dull than the majority of the performance (although that doesn’t say a great deal), and came closer to achieving the ambiance for which the production was presumably aiming, just about managing to create a sombre and spiritual atmosphere within the chapel. This, however, was in great part due to the choir who sang at various points throughout and were, in my opinion, the best thing about the production. I would go as far as to say that the choir was the only part of the performance worth the money which the audience had paid for it. Unfortunately, the choir alone could not rescue this performance from the depths of dullness to which the choreography reduced it.

The performance ended with the audience gathered around the choir area, interspersed with the actors and choir, as one of the actors, Avigail Tlalim, recited poetry about the chapel itself, including Wordsworth’s beautiful Inside of King's College Chapel, Cambridge. She must be praised for her delivery; combined with soft amber lighting, this was probably the most effective section of the performance. Sadly, it was too little, too late for this production; nothing could save it from its pervasive emptiness up to this point.

On the whole, the one word which I believe adequately sums up this production is ‘dull’. I expect to meet with accusations from those associated with the production that I didn’t ‘get it’, that I’m a Luddite, opposed to modern choreography. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. The truth is that there was simply nothing to ‘get’. The performance was devoid of any real colour; there was nothing to like or dislike, as it was just plain dull. The choreography seemed to have no real purpose; it was indecipherable, and did little to aid the audience’s appreciation of the chapel, which was the production’s supposed goal. I was promised modern choreography, but the creators of this production need to realise that there is a vast difference between modern choreography and the pretentious pointlessness which I experienced in the Chapel. King’s College Chapel is a breathtakingly spectacular building which deserves better than this.