By Jay Menard

Wired On Words’ Within/Between is a stunning celebration of sound and vision, and movement and space. It is build as visual poetry, but it is best described as an experience — and one that should not be missed.

The production features Ian Ferrier on guitar, keyboards, and vocals, with Stephanie Morin-Robert providing the movement through dance and video projection (reminiscent of her “eye” work during last year’s presentation of Blindside.) The two combine to create a sound and vision experience that at once lulls you into a trance, then smashes you back into reality with a violent crescendo of movement.

Ferrier loops an ambient guitar line and sing-speaks his poetry to a hypnotic effect. At times you lose the words due to the trance-like rhythms, but you never lose the meaning. We are all passengers on this train — not remembering where we first got on; and most certainly unsure of where our final destination lies.

Morin-Robert complements the tranquil nature of Ferrier’s vocal patterns with a dynamic and, at times, visceral celebration of movement.

Visual poetry is a perfect description of what Within/Between is. This isn’t your elementary school tapa-tapa-tapa dance-in-unison number; it’s not even rigidly structured contemporary. It’s much more visceral, raw, and emotional than that. It’s movement from the heart that aligns with the poetry. Again, the words flow forth not in rhyming couplets or perfect iambic pentameter, but are more primal, more guttural in nature.

And the pairing of two such emotive presentations matches perfectly to create a glorious, violently soulful whole.

**** — four out of five stars

This review originally appeared on theatreinlondon.ca