Dark Land Light House - Bristol Theatre Review
Posted on: 2016-04-25
Our rating:
It's theatre at its most demanding, its most uncomfortable, its most evocative, its most primal, its most human, its most complex, and its most brilliant.
Dark Land Light House - currently running at the Bristol Old Vic until 30 April 2016 - is a dark, compelling interstellar theatre piece and one of the most intense and profoundly powerful productions of the year.
Presented by Sleepdogs in conjunction with Bristol Old Vic Ferment - it tells the story of Teller Ghent, posted in the dark, cosmic infinity of space on a lighthouse orbiting the Dark Land, itself something not fully understood or comprehended, neither a black hole nor a planet yet possessed of a terrifying omnipotence to destroy people and other planets.
The only thing keeping Teller company is a sentient computer, Hypatia, which engages her in conversation and presents her with intermittent, apocalyptic visions of the end of the universe. Determined to hold things together and keep her sanity intact, Teller - afraid and possibly the next one to end up in the all-consuming cosmic ether - refuses to give up.
Dark Land Light House is an absolutely gobsmacking piece of theatre. Written by Timothy X Attack and directed by Tanuja Amarasuriya, the stage itself comprises of nothing more than a large, tall gantry and a few lights and is perpetually filled with the floating, dreamy wisps of ethereal dry ice.
It might have been inspired by the likes of Alien, HP Lovecraft and 2001: A Space Odyssey, but this is a deep, often darkly disturbing work that probes at the every nature of people, place, memory, home, time and identity. But while there's an interminable mood of foreboding, desperation, insanity and madness, it is also interspersed with moments of genuine awe, wonder and theatrically poetic beauty.
Betwixt the unnerving, claustrophobic sense of impending doom, there are several isolated pockets of beautifully haunting mystery, rumination and introspection. Sections of palpably heart-racing intensity and ferocity are counterbalanced by polar opposite periods of calm, hypnotically immersive and hallucinogenic trippiness. Nothing is what it seems, things are constantly, eerily off-kilter, and the calms before the storms are potently infused with an unrelenting aura of inescapably inevitable terror.
It's theatre at its most demanding, its most uncomfortable, its most evocative, its most primal, its most human, its most complex, and its most brilliant.
Jessica Macdonald as Teller is a total revelation in a role that showcases a powerhouse performance for the whole time she's on stage throughout the uninterrupted hour-and-forty-five-minute running time. Straddling the gamut of core human emotions, feelings and reactions, hers is an acting masterclass brimming with humanity, anger, frustration, loneliness and a tangibly painful vulnerability.
Derek Frood, as the previous lighthouse incumbent - a kind world-weary, foul-mouthed, sardonic salty ol' sea dog of space - is a striking, indomitable presence whenever he appears, full of charmingly cantankerous gruffness and grit.
North Sea Navigator and Timothy X Attack's music and sound combines the perfect blend of minimalistic mystery and unsettling, disconcerting ambience, while Ben Pacey's lighting design is often nothing short of spectacular, utilizing multi-coloured lights, lasers and interstellar luminations to giddying, breathtaking effect.
Its slow-burn, languorous pace won't sit well with everyone, but patience is its own reward and I'd imagine it's highly unlikely you'll experience a more unforgettably visceral, immersive, darkly intense and mesmerisingly beautiful theatrical 105 minutes this year.
A masterpiece.
5/5
Reviewed by Jamie Caddick for 365Bristol.com - The leading events and entertainment website in the city
The show runs until April 30th 2016 and tickets can be purchased through the Bristol Old Vic website.
All photo credits to: Paul Blakemore for Bristol Old Vic
Article by:
Jamie is a writer, blogger, journalist, critic, film fan, soundtrack nerd and all-round Bristolian good egg. He loves the music of Philip Glass, the art of Salvador Dali, the writings of Charles Bukowksi and Hunter S Thompson, the irreverence of Harry Hill, and the timeless, straw-chomping exuberance of The Wurzels. You can sometimes find him railing against a surging tide of passing cyclists, or gorging himself senseless on the Oriental delights of a Cosmos all-you-can-eat buffet.
