REVIEW: Dreammaker 梦人

Review Date: 24th September @ House of NEON

Zoe Yingying Xie

9/30/20262 min read

Dreammaker 梦人, devised and performed by Caiqi Yang and Yi(Huang-Shu-Yi), feels much like the dreams it tries to capture: fragmented, deeply personal, constantly shifting, and still searching for its own shape.

Two figures, one in a white dress and the other in a white shirt with a black tie, move through fragments of a world they seem to have built for themselves. The space is always in motion, slipping between the recognisable and the abstract. I particularly enjoyed the set design(Joyce Hanjue Zheng), especially the use of wire as the “language of the dreammaker”. Lamps, guns, clocks, whistles, maps and other objects are reduced to lines, as if the dreammaker has drawn them into existence. The wire structures occasionally become surfaces when covered with gauze, while familiar objects change scale, function and meaning. The result is a room that never fully belongs to either reality or fantasy, but remains somewhere intriguingly in-between.

The moments I found most compelling were also the ones where I could most clearly see the two creators themselves. A playful mirrored exchange between the performers, or one repeatedly following the other with “我爱你(I Love You)” only to be rejected by a light going out, and even the wonderfully childish final bows all share something that feels instinctive rather than over-designed. There is a real sense of personality in these moments, and they made the work feel intimate without needing to explain itself.

At the same time, the piece feels like it is still in the process of discovering exactly how much it needs to say. Some sections seemed to carry so many ideas within a single movement that the physicality became less open and fluid, and occasionally the connection between the performers and the movement itself felt slightly constrained by the choreography. I found myself wishing for a little less calculation in these moments, and a little more trust in the movement and in the performers.

There are also some technical choices that make the work harder to fully receive from certain parts of the audience. Due to the spatial limitations, much of the movement taking place on the floor was difficult to see, while the projection design and brightness meant that all the text was not particularly legible. As these elements carry part of the work's narrative information, this occasionally left gaps in what could be taken in from the audience. These feel like aspects that could benefit from further testing and refinement in production.

Dreammaker is therefore perhaps most interesting when it allows itself to be strange, playful and personal. Like a dream, it does not yet feel entirely resolved, but there are flashes where its own language becomes very clear. I left wanting to see what this dreammaker might become with a little more time to wander, refine and trust its instincts.

★★★★

For more information, please visit:https://lambethfringe.com/events/dreammaker

Credits

Devised & Performed by Caiqi Yang and Yi (Huang-Shu-Yi)

Producer: Kristy Xueming Wang

Associate Producer: Aria Yanli Wang

Stage Manager: Ali Yuraw (Yuan-Ling Chen)

Set & Costume Designer: Joyce Hanjue Zheng

Assistant Set Designer: SEHR（suerhongruo）

Lighting Designer: Jasmine Hoi Ching Tom

Composer: Raymond Shing Yau Yang

Developed from an original concept by CYA (Caiqi Yang, Yi (Huang-Shu-Yi), and Arwen Scott).