Survivor. Picture by Tom Medwell

Sculptor Antony Gormley has crafted an impressive show but the message can get buried under the weight of an epic production

To send a link to this page to a friend, simply enter their email address below.

The message will include the name and email address you gave us when you signed up.

Email address

  Send link

To send a link to this page to a friend, you must be logged in.

Technical difficulties delayed the start of Survivor by an hour, but Antony Gormley’s arrival on stage to introduce the opus he created alongside multi-media choreographer Hofesh Shechter was enough to pacify the grumbling audience.

Yet the sculptor’s advice not to “expect too much” seemed at odds with the mounting anticipation and grand setting.

A lone figure standing with his back to the audience – in the style of Gormley’s famous cast iron sculptures variously found on Britain’s beaches, bridges and rooftops – marked the start of a production big on impact and velocity.

The figure was soon joined by five others who embarked on a series of ghostly and synchronised movements, sometimes weighed down by heavy cannon balls but always backed by a thumping and haunting soundtrack. Their purpose was unclear, but their thoughtful routines drew on themes of loss and oppression.

All the while, a black and white backdrop screened video projections of waterfalls and murmurations, while roving cameras captured uncomfortably close-up shots of the performers, live backstage footage, and – in an unwelcome surprise – picked out the squeamish faces among the audience.

Yet it was the music that had by far the biggest impact, as it inexplicably switched from ear-piercingly loud drumming, thrashed out with tribal intensity by 100 amateur drummers, to acoustic folk sung soothingly by a lone guitarist.

In short, it was a cross between a Sigur Ros gig and an evening of Stomp. And while the grandeur is no doubt impressive, whatever message there was behind this epic production was easily lost among its mechanics.

* Survivor was at the Barbican in Silk Street, EC2, from January 12 to 14, 2012.