Ben Duke: Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me), Wilton's Music Hall ★★★★★

Ben Duke Paradise Lost review: Culture Whisper says ★★★★★
By turns hilarious and desperately sad, Duke makes the awkward, absurd and terrifying responsibility of creation a shared experience between God and Man.

Under the shadow of Milton’s literary masterpiece, Ben Duke tries to keep hold of an old and wayward story as he retells creation, alone on stage. Shuffling between the characters of God, Lucifer, Adam and Eve, he evokes the full splendour of heaven and hell from atop a chair in a cloud of liquid nitrogen.

Definitely one of the most ambitious contemporary dance shows London will see this year, Duke has already won rave reviews, and captivated the crowd at Edinburgh festival. The small and eccentric work also won Best Male Performance at the National Dance Awards.

The show is full of beautiful comedy - a hoarde of avenging angels shuffling through God's galley kitchen, for example, or Duke's own child questioning the worth of his father's work as he sees him dance Lucifer around the house. Blending slapstick and monologue with his own brand of dance, Duke reveals the banal in epic, and uncovers soul-shattering tragedy in the most everyday event.

Ben Duke, choreographer and co-founder of Lost Dog, describes himself as ‘driven by my limitations as a dancer.’ With a background as much in drama as in dance, he has worked for theatre phenomenon Punchdrunk as well as the respectable likes of Phoenix Dance Theatre. Lost Dog has attracted much critical attention and several awards for its efforts to ‘frame dance with stories.’