Light is a science fiction story based in a dystopian
totalitarian world, told using no words; only the language of the body, light,
and sound.
 |
| Light |
I
entered the Unity Theatre space to see a bare, pitch black stage flanked by two L.E.D. strip lights and marked out with 'glow
in the dark' tape. I waited for the piece to begin, and when it did the stage
was still dark. The only light used was the light given off by L.E.D. torches and strip lights to light the performers and the stage. And this is something
that was done to a tee; using the torches, and fantastic sound effects,
to create the impressions and illusions on stage that set the piece in an
unsettling futuristic dystopian world. Occasionally the timing of the torches was slightly
off, which is to be expected in such a fast paced piece performed in the dark, by
humans, but this did not take away from the effect. The fact that not one
member of the ensemble slipped, bumped, or tripped, and that each actor was
exactly where they were meant to be when the lights went off and on shows the
amount of dedication, time, and effort that went in to rehearsing this piece of
physical, mime based, theatre.
The
world that the protagonist lived in was a totalitarian world of advanced
technology, torture, and micro brain implants that can record your every
thought and memory. It was impressive, and sometimes jarring, how the scene moved from
an elevator to an office so quickly. The piece was immediately engaging and
stimulating as we followed the protagonist from scene to scene with only light, sound, and the language of the body as a cue to the imaginative space in
our mind. And there is an interesting point to be made here regarding the space
in our mind; the setting of the play is largely imagined by the audience, and
so the play will be seen differently by each audience member. For me, being a
fan of science fiction, I could see a Blade
Runner-like cyber punk world, with the harsh dystopian qualities of 1984, mixed the virtual nightmare of The Matrix. The expressionist, graphic
novel-esque effect of the piece also brings to mind Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Anyone watching that perhaps
disliked science fiction may have seen something different. But it was the
consistency with which the ensemble kept the pace, the quickness and fluidity
of the light, and the immaculate timing of the sound effects and music that
held it all together for me.
But
here’s the problem. The play being in the dark and lighted by the very same
effects that allow the set to be fluid and changeable is admirable for sure,
the minimal stage, the silent expressive acting; all very Wilsonian to an extent, but it
seems there is something lacking, and it may be the story. It is a simple
story, an old story that has been told many different ways; but aren’t they
all? (Think of the archetypal stories of Star Wars, Batman, and Jekyll and Hyde).
Once we get used to the use of light, we start to inspect the story and,
although it isn’t bad, it certainly has something lacking. It more noticeably starts
to lag when we go in to the mind-space of Cass; the story seems to slow down
and our brain is screaming for it to speed up again, for the action to kick in
and wake us up; and it’s because we know the story. There’s also the additional
problem of not being able to get any real character from the actors because of
a lack of dialogue and the fast pace of the performance, so we get archetypal characters that can’t express the intricacies
of their internal world; their intentions, fears, hopes, and dreams. Which
doesn’t sound too bad but the play is inspired by information wars and the
storing of data on things like social networking sites etc, and particularly
the Edward Snowden case. When dealing with a world that is full of grey
areas it can be difficult to express the complexities of that world using archetypal
characters within the confines of a silent archetypal story. I think there is
definitely more to say.
In
terms of spectacle versus content I think here it can be likened to James
Cameron’s Avatar. Avatar retells an old story; it’s Pocahontas, it’s about the wiping out of
one civilisation for the territorial and capital gain of another. The themes
here are heavy and important, but we know where it’s going so it can drag and
we just want it to get there (people especially noticed this once Avatar was available on DVD and it could
be watched without the spectacle of 3D cinema). But what Avatar does have is exceptional immersive world building and visual
effects. The world of Avatar is well
thought out, it is detailed, and it is imaginative. And this is where Light excels; in its imaginative immersive
world building and its visual effects. The movement of the light together with
the actors, and the sound, allows the imagination to immerse itself in the
subjective world created. The visual story telling is entertaining, and the
nightmarish tone is uncannily alluring and morbidly fascinating. You feel
yourself dragged in by the spectacle of it all; you want to see how it all interacts
and moves and what it’s going to do next. The way all of these things cooperate
to create one environment; the way the imagined and the real intertwine in your
mind, like when viewing a particularly dark and captivating painting, is what makes Light a worthwhile experience and, even
with its pitfalls, I would recommend anyone to go and see this challenging
piece of theatre.
No comments:
Post a Comment