Tao of Glass review – stage magic as McDermott meditates on the minimalist master

Soho Place theatre, LondonThis multifaceted and personal homage to – and collaboration with – composer Philip Glass is a transcendent tapestry suffused with joy and wonder. A show that doesn’t happen (and one that’s never seen); a shattered coffee table; the I Ching; Maurice Sendak; a flotation tank; Deep Democracy. Just some of the disparate fragments that are lovingly assembled by the Tao of Glass into what writer and co-director Phelim McDermott has called “a storytelling tapestry – part concert, part performance”. Premiered at 2019’s Manchester International festival, this beguiling meditation now makes its London debut – albeit without the figure who looms tousle-haired and scowling behind it: composer Philip Glass.Glass’s music has been, McDermott explains, a “river” through his life. The award-winning director’s fascination started as a teenager, lying on his bedroom floor listening to Glassworks on repeat, later crystallised by a little light stalking (the young McDermott follows Glass through the streets of Covent Garden) and professional collaborations on the composer’s operas. Continue reading...