Akram Khan, Until the Lions Review ★★★★★

Akram Khan's Until the Lions debuted at London’s Roundhouse in 2016, a work made specifically for the venue’s in-the-round stage. It is based on a collection of poems from writer Karthika Naĩr, which reimagines the characters in the Sanskrit epic The Mahabharata – a story much loved by Khan in his formative years. Here Khan will be dancing in the piece for the very last time.

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It follows Amba (Ching-Ying Chien), who is about to choose her husband during a public ceremony, but is then abducted by Bheeshma (Khan), a warrior who has taken a vow of celibacy. On escaping, she kills herself and is reincarnated as Shikhandi (Joy Alpuerto Ritter) a male/female warrior born to wreak revenge and brutally defeat Bheehshma on the battlefield.

Akram Khan, Until the Lions, photo Jean Louis Fernandez

Firstly, a warning: Until the Lions is not a show you can blag without reading the synopsis beforehand. Even having read the programme summary, once the action starts, the story develops so rapidly under Khan’s direction that the key plot points do not always emerge obviously.

Story aside, the more of Khan’s work one sees, the more one trusts him to deliver. Until the Lions starts with a relatively slow scene setting sequence, the eerie quiet of which is necessary in anticipation of the enormity of drama that follows. It just requires a little patience.

As Amba, Chien possesses a beautifully pure and ethereal air when she embarks on her journey to find a husband; but her softness and innocence are soon lost and replaced with a raging physicality as she battles for power in her relationship with Khan’s imperious Bheeshma. There is no room for sentiment in Khan’s character who is resolute, upright and unforgiving.

Akram Khan’s turbulent Kathak choreography is danced with unrelenting commitment by all three performers. Khan spins with such force it feels as if he’s trying to whip up a typhoon; and Chien is a small powerhouse who matches him toe to toe. Ferocious sections of movement are then interspersed with dramatic pauses.

Akram Khan, Until the Lions, photo Jean Louis Fernandez

One moment sees a particularly physical tussle between the pair, with legs and arms intertwined as they circle each other warily. Chien swings from limb to limb, wrapping her legs around Khan’s waist and dropping down to the floor, all with mesmerising speed. There is a repeated motif of the two folding their arms around each other, but their bodies never touch, suggesting Bheeshma’s vow of celibacy.

Chien’s standout scene, depicting her transformation after swearing revenge against Bheeshma, is a breathtaking drama: a solo full of staggering contortions that are faintly disturbing and hint at the danger inherent in the climax of the story.

Shikhandi (Ritter as the male/female warrior) then emerges, all animal power as she prowls the circumference of the stage with lithe agility and wide eyes, intent on bringing about Bheeshma’s demise with chilling detachment.

The perfect blend of Michael Hulls' lighting, Tim Yip’s designs in a muted colour palette, an original score by Vincenzo Lamagna played live, dramaturgy by Ruth Little, and Khan’s choreography especially devised for the Roundhouse makes Until the Lions an intensely atmospheric experience.

Akram Khan certainly knows how to knit together a show.

It may not all immediately make sense, but Until the Lions is a work that will sit in your brain and have you unpicking it for days to come. When the work is as well crafted and exhilarating as Khan’s is, this is not an unappealing challenge...