Death isn’t an easy subject to talk about but director/choreographer Kate Flatt has made a highly moving attempt to discuss some of the issues surrounding the loss of a loved one in her cross-over dance theatre production, Soul Play.

Starting off with a pitch black stage on which an actor stumbles about in a state of deep confusion and fear, the audience gradually learns he has tragically committed suicide in a moment of deep despair. He is guided through the process of confronting the horror of his action and all he has left behind, by a figure at once very solid and tangible and yet ethereal as she dances about him but does not speak.

We learn of his stressful commute, the rituals he has put in place to cope with the rigours of modern life and the young daughter he feels he has let down by constantly being late.

Anna Reynolds text weaves seamlessly into Kate’s tactile choreography. You can almost feel the fabric as it sways on the body of constantly mobile dancer Joy Constantinides whose face, arms, legs, even toes, convey so much understanding of what it is to be human, frail and alone and how much we need someone to guide us in moments of doubt. Sam Curtis meanwhile, reshapes himself through her interaction and goes from being a person lost to acknowledging his mistakes.

Watford Palace Theatre, the cast and director should also be greatly commended for the post-show discussion which attempted to address the concerns of the audience about watching a performance so deeply affecting as this. Praise too goes to cellist David Darling for his haunting music and to Chloe Lamford for her magnificent set – at one point minimalist and then transformed by colour, shadow play, texture and magic, mostly conjured from a marvellous Mary Poppins style handbag.

Death is never easy but this piece, in part based on the work of Watford Peace Hospice, certainly opens the door to compassion.

Melanie Dakin