adjective
adjective: futureproof 1. (of a product or system) unlikely to become obsolete. I went looking for clues after I saw this show. I read the programme notes, read a couple of reviews from the run in Cork and the original production in Edinburgh, I googled the title for a definition. Why was I confused? All the exposition was there (probably a little too much in truth), the performances had some lovely moments - particularly Gina Moxley’s monologue - but in a play about selfhood there was an indistinction in many of the central ideas and images that left me a little disconnected; a little lost. For me, the moments of greatest impact were almost all without words; the confrontation in an opening tableaux where the lineup of characters peers out at us from behind a steel gate, a moment of weakness and self-loathing when the formerly fat man shoves pies into his face, the silent screaming of a mute woman, the tiny, delicate gestures of intimacy between conjoined twins, the bearded lady looking into a mirror, face newly shaved, or the silent redressing of the genderfluid character of George/Georgina. The writing is compelling, but the ideas are stronger than the execution. This is a world that ought to be brought to life through the unique shape and sound of bodies, but here, more often than not, the words dictate pace and meaning. The design was also temptingly close to something threatening and nostalgic, but never quite reached the darker, more deranged and essential energy of a freakshow on the edge of extinction. Maeve for DRAFF Futureproof, written by Lynda Radley and directed by Tom Creed, runs at Project Arts Centre until July 1st. Image: Miki Barlok
Posted: 28 June 2017 |