Stab commissions sharp act
Lynn Freeman
Gene Pool, directed by Cara Brockliss, Bats Theatre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman
YOU come to expect the unexpected when it comes to STAB commissioned shows and Gene Pool is one of the most surprising – in the best possible of ways – shows in recent years. The sole performer, Francis Mountjoy, represents the last human to survive a virus, and a ‘manufactured’ human at that. We are there at his birth from a machine, with him while he bonds with that machine and discovers how to move and walk, and as he tries to make sense of a world in which he is totally alone.
Mountjoy moves with the strength of a dancer and the dexterity of an ape in a performance, which is nothing short of astonishing. He is naked throughout, not for ‘effect’ but because that is how we come into the world.
Cara Brockliss and Mountjoy created Gene Pool together and they are an exquisite combination. Brockliss makes the most of her actor’s agility and expressive body and face to [make Mountjoy] a new Adam filled with innocence and possibilities. He doesn’t say a word and tells us so much about ourselves. Taped radio and telephone sequences are strategically used to give us just enough hints about what has brought the human race to this point.
Gene Pool taps into many of the current fears we have, notably the increasingly potent viruses and how these can be exploited by drug companies. Also how some people justify using people from third worlds as organ donors, arguing that it is in their best interests as well as that of the wealthy recipients.
Weta designer Greg Broadmore created the set with its human-making machine and his Weta Workshop colleagues made it. It’s amazing.
There is so much packed into this succinct play that you will find your thoughts returning to it time and again.
YOU come to expect the unexpected when it comes to STAB commissioned shows and Gene Pool is one of the most surprising – in the best possible of ways – shows in recent years. The sole performer, Francis Mountjoy, represents the last human to survive a virus, and a ‘manufactured’ human at that. We are there at his birth from a machine, with him while he bonds with that machine and discovers how to move and walk, and as he tries to make sense of a world in which he is totally alone.
Mountjoy moves with the strength of a dancer and the dexterity of an ape in a performance, which is nothing short of astonishing. He is naked throughout, not for ‘effect’ but because that is how we come into the world.
Cara Brockliss and Mountjoy created Gene Pool together and they are an exquisite combination. Brockliss makes the most of her actor’s agility and expressive body and face to [make Mountjoy] a new Adam filled with innocence and possibilities. He doesn’t say a word and tells us so much about ourselves. Taped radio and telephone sequences are strategically used to give us just enough hints about what has brought the human race to this point.
Gene Pool taps into many of the current fears we have, notably the increasingly potent viruses and how these can be exploited by drug companies. Also how some people justify using people from third worlds as organ donors, arguing that it is in their best interests as well as that of the wealthy recipients.
Weta designer Greg Broadmore created the set with its human-making machine and his Weta Workshop colleagues made it. It’s amazing.
There is so much packed into this succinct play that you will find your thoughts returning to it time and again.
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