Thoughts on The Best of BE Festival

On a Wednesday evening a bunch of us from the Creative Writing/English departments took a trip to The Lowry in Salford, to see a show that most of us were ‘looking forward to’ in a sickly, nervous kind of way. None of us knew what the show was really about. None of us even knew the exact name of the performance. And nobody wanted to witness an accidental on-stage lobotomy on the off chance something DID go wrong.
This video was all we had to go off.

Best of BE UK 2019 Tour from BE FESTIVAL on Vimeo.

I was a bit nervous, I’ll have to tell you. Visiting the circus or seeing a stunt performance is something most people enjoy, yet there is always something in the back of the mind that says, “What if this goes wrong?” A nasty voice that whispers, “Will I see blood tonight?” as you try to find your seat. I think these natural, very human anxieties are what the Best of BE Festival played with.

At the end of the night, there was nothing to fear. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we all came back with huge smiles and laughter, and that the performance continued to work its way into our conversations throughout the rest of the week. I enjoyed myself immensely.

Since all three acts in the Best of BE Festival seemed to be about provoking an emotional response in the audience, I will be sharing my personal thoughts and feelings on each one.

The first show was called ‘Take Care of Yourself’ and was performed by Marc Oosterhoff. In the beginning the performance reminded me a bit of an old-timey circus act crossed with a mime artist, as everything was silent with exaggerated movements and comical expressions. Oosterhoff silently put himself in danger and terrified everyone in the vicinity. He took twenty shots of whiskey and threw himself into backflips on the hard stage floor, threw knives and daggers around, and danced over mousetraps. Some people could not watch; I had to peek between my fingers at times! I think it’s human nature to be afraid when other people are doing things that are inherently dangerous, and this performance certainly gave me an adrenaline rush.

‘Someone Loves You Drive With Care’ by Tom Cassini came up next, and was equally as intense as the first act. If I’m honest I think this performance was a little bit too long for what it was, however. Perhaps the suspense made it feel longer.

Cassini spoke of his hands as being criminal. His voice was low, dark, and slow. When he wasn’t hammering nails into his nostrils or inserting a metal hook up his nose and into his mouth  ̶  uncannily resembling something out of a Saw movie at times  ̶  he talked about his melting home in the polar regions, of death, lies, violence, and his brother. Even his voice provoked a sense of anxiety in me, as I didn’t know what he was going to do or say next! It was unnerving, like listening to somebody you know to be a serial killer; even when they talk about mundane things, you know what they have done and what they are capable of.

This sinister persona Cassini put on could also be comical at times. When he told the audience to close their eyes, I felt like I couldn’t, as I was afraid to see something terrible when my eyes opened again. Fear, again, is something this performer used to play with his audience. One time we opened our eyes and he had moved to a new position on stage with his trousers around his ankles. The relief and absurdity made me laugh.

The third and last show by French performer Kulu Orr was my absolute favourite. ‘Control Freak’ was extremely popular with everyone I spoke to on the trip, and we couldn’t stop chattering about it on the way back to university, despite being utterly shattered by that point. There was a lot of laughter in the auditorium throughout!

The Control Freak persona was blunt and sarcastic, almost robotic in more ways than one, but incredibly funny and likeable. He wore high-tech suits which could control the stage lighting, sound effects, and a recording/looping effect, which he used to make music and generally look like some kind of rainbow-coloured, magical robot.

By bouncing balls and making certain movements, he created some really beautiful songs, some of which could be quite classical like harpsichord and organ music, some electronic in a style which reminded me of New Order’s music, and some psychedelic like 60’s/70’s music similar to Cream. At one point he lit himself up all colours of the rainbow and changed shades by movements of his fingers. It was dazzling, and I’ve never seen or heard anything like it before.

At points I was wondering “is this really real?”, and perhaps that is a testament to just how incredible it was! There was a very short technological error and Control Freak was left on a dark stage for a moment, which is understandable considering just how wacky and innovative the technology was. But Orr did not break character for a second. He said: “Just a minute,”… a couple of seconds later, “Just a minute…”, and then a few seconds later… “Just another minute.” I was nearly in tears of laughter and the issue was quickly resolved. 

I can’t recommend The Best of BE Festival enough! It was a perfect evening filled with adrenaline, daredevils, dazzling lights, and laughter.