‘But how does this game work?’ asks one of the two women on stage before us. It’s a good question and one that the audience might well be wondering.
What these performers are trying to do is interesting.
A vivid soundscape created by the talented Nathalie Huber welcomes us as we sit in apprehension for this dynamic duo, and dynamic they are. These two excellent performers, Jessica Sowerby and Sabin Huber, produce an impressive array of movement sequences throughout the piece. However from the moment they enter, one slung over the others’ shoulder, the audience struggles to understand what exactly is going on. Sowerby and Huber are almost Beckettian in their absurdity, presenting two women struggling to make sense of what they’re actually doing. If you desire dialogue or cohesive narrative, steer clear of this production. If you’re looking for something stimulatingly surreal, step right in.
What these performers are trying to do is interesting. The rocking motion of a cigarette expands into a violent rhythm, a dance of contraction and expulsion, only to be mocked by the performers themselves. Every action is charged and at times moments become unbearably tender - ‘Stop dying’, one woman says to another, trying to force her hand away from holding her mouth, ‘stop dying’.
Supposed to be Seen seems to be in a debate with itself as to whether it even wants to be seen at all by its audience, and this uncertainty is perhaps where this production falls down.
Pregnant Theatre’s aim is supposedly to break the boundary between audience and story, but if anything the confusion of the piece and of the performers lends itself to stark alienation - the audience are often left in the dark. This is a challenging piece of experimental theatre; the physical movements may be clear but the intent and narrative behind them still need work. Pregnant pride themselves on transcending language, communicating through physicality alone, but the problem remains that even this language of the body remains warped in this clever but confused piece of theatre.
