For lovers of absurdist theatre, A Play by John at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall is not to be missed.
An original piece cleverly rooted in the absurdist genre and performed with considerable skill
The production comes courtesy of MULE, a theatre company made up of two actors, Marc Wadhwani and Jules Smekens, whose work in the last three years has included plays, short films, seven contemporary dance projects and a nomination at the Barcelona Choreoscope Festival.
They take on the roles of Matteo and Reggie who are engaged in constructing coffins in preparation for taking their own lives. Hence, the stage is converted into a workshop, an enclosed space that heightens their isolation and the inescapability of their situation. One coffin, to the side, is finished and ready to take the taller of the two lads, who tries it for size. The second is still under construction, with much banging of nails and checking of measurements.
Their conversations sound rational and sincere, yet couched, as they say, in ‘similar lingual tones to Beckett’s Godot and Pinter’s Dumb Waiter’. And why not draw on the masters of this form? That said, this is not a copying of anything by either of those playwrights, but rather an original piece cleverly rooted in the absurdist genre and performed with considerable skill.
The impending doom is suspended as the action focuses on the preparations that have to be made for their demise. The language is light, conversational, at times interrogative and, of course, the subject matter is taken seriously and with earnest intent, harking towards black comedy. There are the all-important pauses and moments of bewilderment as the trivial takes on significance. But in the midst of this there are the underlying themes of identity and trust and authority and power against a backdrop of political turmoil and societal unrest in which it is becoming increasingly difficult to know what to believe.
Will our characters complete their challenge and move on, or are they just trapped in A Play by John.
