Fusing absurdist theatre, contemporary dance and creative captioning, Stop Playing Jacob’s Ladder With My Spine puts a spotlight on unseen habits and rituals, and how being observed can cause an intense sense of shame.
HotCat Collective credit the image of a nosebleed as the jumping off point for this piece of dance-theatre, leading them to explore the sudden, unexpected exposure of the suppressed. The subject is certainly relatable – if you have ever been in university accommodation or a bad house share (in or out of the festival), the concept of hiding in your room from your strange flatmates may be an abiding memory.
The performance opens with Amanda Pang dancing with a dust sheet while words are projected on the back wall. As she retreats to a corner of the space she seems to meld into the seating, ensconced and isolated. Next up is Tiggy Jones, who microwaves, eats and reviews ready meals. The quality of her movement is excellent, with a sense of control over her body that the character does not have over hers. Jones moves into a duet with their co-creator/co-choreographer Esther Carr and a sense of longing and unrequited feelings lingers. The last of the quartet, Magdalena Lacey-Hughes, uses choreography and text to explain her role as a café worker who is willing to go to great lengths to escape their shift.
The difficulty in doing a dance piece that relies too heavily on text is that not all of the cast seem to find comfort in the spoken word. There is certainly a range: Lacey-Hughes delivers an excellent monologue, while Carr is barely audible at points. Often the text has little intention, and might be better if left to the projection and captioning behind. The themes are challenging at times, with mental health issues from compulsions to self-harm on display, and no real exploration of those aspects beyond the overarching senses of isolation, guilt and shame.
HotCat are an emerging company, and clearly have strong and experimental ideas they want to explore. As their first original show, the collective have broken some interesting ground with this piece, and will surely continue to develop, grow, and push the boundaries of dance-theatre as they do.
By Deborah Klayman
Stop Playing Jacob’s Ladder With My Spine plays at Zoo Southside, Edinburgh until August 30th 2026.
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