64 Squares

'Welcome to my mind. Sorry about the mess.' Rhum and Clay Theatre Company have no need to apologise, as their new show 64 Squares is a joy to watch, starting with a bang and continuing with a frenetic energy that never drops. On the surface, 64 Squares may be a show about chess but, on a more profound level, it’s about free will, memory and identity.

By the end we’re left shaken and doubting our own abilities to understand our memories and the stories we create about our own lives.

We’re introduced to the character of B on a ship to America. After being imprisoned and tortured by the Gestapo he tries to piece together his memories. B is portrayed by actors Julian Spooner, Matthew Wells and Roisin O’Mahony, and together with musician Fred McLaren they work in perfect harmony to evoke a mind on the verge of implosion.

The Lecoq-trained company use their impressive mimetic skills and simple props to bring B’s ever-changing memories to life. Chess, a game in which there are countless actions, reactions and chain of events, acts as a metaphor for B’s traumatised life and fragmented memories.

McLaren’s percussive score is as integral to the storytelling as the striking visuals and the actors’ direct address, all of which is used to extraordinary effect. The music and live sound effects, also created by McLaren, provide us with the primal, emotional side of B’s consciousness that comes straight from the gut and is incapable of expressing itself through language.

By the end we’re left shaken and doubting our own abilities to understand our memories and the stories we create about our own lives. This is an ironic turn for a company that has clearly mastered the art of imaginative storytelling.