Unnamed, 5Pound Theatre, Nov 20, 2012 **1/2

Devised by 5Pound Theatre

The Owl and the Pussycat, until Nov 24, 2012

Reviewer: Kate Herbert on Nov 20, 2012

Stars: 2&1/2
Review published in Herald Sun on Tues Nov 27, 2012
 

 

5POUND THEATRE GETS POINTS FOR BRAVERY for their intrepid attempt to rehearse and stage five productions in repertory over five weeks, and for devising and staging this third production, Unnamed, in five days. Bravo!

Unnamed has all the hallmarks of a quickly devised show: simple set, limited dialogue, thematic approach, abstract concept and some interesting elements mingled with less successful bits.

In the tiny, brick-lined space at the Owl and the Pussycat, five actors dressed in white, forensic jumpsuits and dust masks, perform a repetitive, monotonous, production-line routine that involves capturing sand in buckets again and again.

Repetition is your friend when devising show, and the company, with director, Danny Delahunty, uses repetition to explore the dullness of mechanical, menial and meaningless tasks and subservient behaviour.

Obsessively and obediently, the workers rush like rats in a wheel to catch the pouring stream of sand, sieve it, roll it, categorise it, test it, wrap it, sweep it, then send it out the mysterious door to an unknown controller in an unseen world.

Their peculiar but comforting routine is interrupted when the light dims and the sand stops flowing, so they struggle to overcome their fear of the unknown and their inability to think independently.

Unnamed is a simple allegory for submissive human behaviour and the repression that prevents creative thought and action, and leads to poor decisions, group crisis and chaos.

The stage becomes dangerous and chaotic as these two-dimensional characters appear to be in a living hell where uncertainty and other people are their punishment.

This play deals in a simple way with repression, enslavement and the human need for order.

Now let this company get some sleep!

By Kate Herbert 

Creative Team: Director, Danny Delahunty; Devised by the company; Lighting, Doug Montgomery; Costume, Jennifer Sawyer
Cast: Jason Cavanagh, Susannah Frith, Sebastian Gunner, Tom Molyneux, Freya Pragt
 

Week 4, Nov 26th – Dec 1^: Falling Petals by Ben Ellis, Directed by Rob Reid. 5Pound Theatre
Week 5, Dec 3-8^: After Hamlet, directed by Trent Baker 5Pound Theatre