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Nocturne review – a promenade through London's night song

Deptford, London
This tour of the capital’s streets at nightfall catches some beautiful unorchestrated moments from other people’s lives

Tethered together with a rope, we are taking a night-time guided tour of Deptford, south-east London. We start in the library, drop our bags and leave our phones behind. The landscape outside makes a beautiful stage, with boat under brick under crane under star. The leash between us garners some unusual looks, but Krista Burāne and Andy Field’s quiet promenade performance is about seeing, not being seen.

Running for three hours as the sun melts away, Nocturne is slow, at first gloriously so. The group stops to observe a swarm of insects, a fox, a blackbird bobbing across a fence. Animals and humans sharpen under the soft scrutiny Nocturne encourages. Unorchestrated moments drop us in on people’s daily lives: someone practising the piano; friends dancing behind half-drawn curtains; a boy playing basketball. Other than our guides, this piece contains no actors or stooges. The city simply performs its night song. We walk away from the boy but turn back to look. He scores.

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