‘Faultless, captivating and thought provoking’
Faultless, spellbinding, and mesmerising are just three words to describe this show. Ashley Banjo’s choreography never fails to surprise, excite and challenge perceptions as he and his team seamlessly glide and jolt through movements to create an emotive and atmospheric dance piece. Banjo is joined by fellow dancers and choreographers for the show such as Perri Kiely and Stevey Thompson, who equally shine in their routines. The whole cast of Diversity are nothing but perfectly timed, acrobatic and completely and utterly sublime. They all need a mention as they work together as one perfect machine to create this production. Diversity consists of dancers Karam Singh, Theo McKenzie-Hayton, Jonnie Karachaliou, Emily Welborn, Issac Akinyemi, Adam McKop, Curtis Butler, Jordan Samuel, Shante Samuel, Mitch Craske, Sam Craske and Warren Russell.
The themes which this show touches on are very current and thought provoking, relying heavily on sound (Nick Baker) and music (Ashley Banjo) to really project their story. Compounding AI and technology to show how humanity has developed into this technological world. The show takes you on a journey through time, memories and fears. Banjo cleverly tells the story through video and projection, depicting each part of the story through dance. Costumes (Kate MacEwan, Kimi MacEwan, Jenny Craske, Ellie Craske and Clare Hayton) are appropriate to the time and scene, easy to manoeuvre in and flexible which is sometimes difficult to achieve whilst remaining strong to the theme.
Lighting (Tom Schofield, Tim Fawkes, Peter Barnes and George Hacking), media (Ben Hartley, Toby Levitt, Luke Levitt, Clive Silver, David Baird and Jon Beer) and sound (Nick Baker and John Smith) are also cleverly woven throughout, again, timing was phenomenal and extremely effective.
Some touching moments include a beautifully emotive piece between man (Banjo) and robot. Very original and unique. Cleverly orchestrated and a delight to watch. Another piece was a duet of the love story between George and Annie performed by Stevey Thompson and Jonnie Karachaliou.
Lazers (Dan Mott) were manipulated skilfully to create a dance sequence which looked like they were being controlled and entwined with Banjo. To add even more layers to their performance the cast also performed with water effects by Water Sculptures.
The short film (Hugo Lai and Samuel Hosier) which provided the back story to the whole production was a good way to engage the audience and this was done in many different ways throughout the show. Games with the audience, rhythm keeping and interaction happened from the very start with the audience being immersed in the AI experience.
An overall spectacular show with some extremely talented performers. A very thought-provoking evening. I haven’t seen Diversity before so I was intrigued as to how a whole evening of dance could be brought to life, this was certainly achieved and left the audience captivated in excitement and thought.
Review Date: 17th March 2026
Star Rating: FOUR