Pushing the envelope
Lynn Freeman
Wake Less, Directed by Joel Baxendale, Bats Theatre. November 11, Reviewed by Lynn Freeman.
THERE are some plays you leave shaking your head, wondering if you have just seen a work of great complexity or something that was just trying too hard to be different. After sleeping on it, Wake Less falls somewhere between the two.
The Binge Culture Collective has always pushed the envelope, never more so than with this work. It plays with the theatre conventions, smashing down the third wall and taking audience participation to a whole new level. This is where it is at its absolute best and most absorbing. One of the two actors, Simon Heron begins by touching members of the audience, invites them onto the stage. Isobel McKinnon (Linda) reminds us that we have paid to see him do something on stage and we are therefore encouraging his behaviour. They then get into character, with the help of Johann Nortje’s gorgeous audio visuals and a can of talcum powder, becoming Karori couple, Reg and Linda. They are able to fulfil Linda’s dream of visiting Cairo with Reg’s redundancy payout.
Now this is where things go from enticingly curious to impenetrably bizarre. Masked characters, attempted hypnosis suggesting we the audience were all expecting babies, a speech supporting Palestinian liberation – what the? Still puzzling but more engrossing is the supper scene where the audience sits at a table for a meal of popcorn under the initially benevolent gaze of a masked person.
Part three returns to Reg and Linda with Linda belly dancing on the table representing her now found sense of liberation.
So, it’s a conundrum, fascinating at times, interminable at others, definitely original, not for theatre goers who dread being part of the on stage action.
Heron and McKinnon are excellent in their multiple roles and Rachel Baker and Theo Taylor do a superb job with scene changes and talcum powder.
THERE are some plays you leave shaking your head, wondering if you have just seen a work of great complexity or something that was just trying too hard to be different. After sleeping on it, Wake Less falls somewhere between the two.
The Binge Culture Collective has always pushed the envelope, never more so than with this work. It plays with the theatre conventions, smashing down the third wall and taking audience participation to a whole new level. This is where it is at its absolute best and most absorbing. One of the two actors, Simon Heron begins by touching members of the audience, invites them onto the stage. Isobel McKinnon (Linda) reminds us that we have paid to see him do something on stage and we are therefore encouraging his behaviour. They then get into character, with the help of Johann Nortje’s gorgeous audio visuals and a can of talcum powder, becoming Karori couple, Reg and Linda. They are able to fulfil Linda’s dream of visiting Cairo with Reg’s redundancy payout.
Now this is where things go from enticingly curious to impenetrably bizarre. Masked characters, attempted hypnosis suggesting we the audience were all expecting babies, a speech supporting Palestinian liberation – what the? Still puzzling but more engrossing is the supper scene where the audience sits at a table for a meal of popcorn under the initially benevolent gaze of a masked person.
Part three returns to Reg and Linda with Linda belly dancing on the table representing her now found sense of liberation.
So, it’s a conundrum, fascinating at times, interminable at others, definitely original, not for theatre goers who dread being part of the on stage action.
Heron and McKinnon are excellent in their multiple roles and Rachel Baker and Theo Taylor do a superb job with scene changes and talcum powder.
Have Your Say
1 Comment
Ralph Upton at 4:19 p.m. on 16 November said
Thanks for the review Lynn. A correction- Simon's surname is Haren rather than Heron. Though Heron rather suits him..