The Place, London
May 23, 2025
Choreographer Kim Jae-duk was inspired by the madness of Shakespearean characters Hamlet and Macbeth in creating this latest work for Modern Table, an all-male Korean dance company founded by Kim in 2007. The six dancers, Kim included, present sequence after sequence of precise, tight, intricate, and repetitive dance, that certainly hits the spot.
The whole cast are incredibly talented. Their ensemble work is a joy. So closely do they work together that the effect is of a machine turning-out endless, purposeless, widgets, but in the best possible way. A real sense of madness is evoked, which is testimony both to Kim’s inventive and quirky choreography, and the dancers’ excellent execution of it.
Photo BAKI
The pace is furious, and doesn’t let-up for any of the work’s 58 minutes. Kim makes excellent use of the stage space, filling it, and then contracting it down to spotlit areas, again a device that adds to the overall feeling of chaos and madness. When, finally, all the dancers collapse on the floor, and reamin unmoving for the last two minutes, you very much want to join them.
Ham:beth is also noteworthy for effective use of lighting, which again heightens the feeling of madness, but which also actually lights the dancers. Nothing and no-one hides in murky gloom here.
The costuming, yellow three-piece suits, sounds off-piste, but actually works a treat.
A final word for the musicians… Kim composed the music, a combination of Korean folk songs and rock, which was performed to perfection by the three on-stage musicians. The dancers even compliment this, singing at several points in the piece.
Modern Table has found deserving recognition in Korea and internationally. You can see why. Ham:beth is a superb and mesmerising experience