Taking a seat at The Gymnast you become charged with that familiar buzz that you're about to witness one of the most poignant shows at the fringe. Scattered toys, barbed wire and an enormous pink wardrobe bathed in red light, set to Cambodian street sounds and anti-war chants hinted at a play so punchy and politically charged that it would leave the audience dazed, word would spread and it would be an instant sell out. But five minutes into this production it became clear that it would not live up to expectations.
Harnessing the thoughts and experiences of those who witnessed Cambodia falling to the Khmer Rouge, this one woman show is an exploration and documentation of the events leading up to Year Zero and the genocide that surrounded it. There was no doubt that the production had been meticulously researched; this was clear in the few monologues, the program that contained snippets from journalist John Pilger and parts of the set that were adorned with security regulations from the Tuol Sleng genocide museum. That said, this research was not enough to keep the show together and the production fell into the trap of assuming audience understanding. While attempting to tread the thin line between cryptic artistic expression and general audience bafflement, the Gymnast tripped over on a number of occasions.
The direction and performance oscillated widely from the impressive to the awkward with moments of mania that left the audience unduly uncomfortable. Neil Murray's design, while impressive overshadowed the production, spiking curiosity of just how much money was pumped into a 20 foot mirror inlaid revolving wardrobe that added little. On the whole this production was a collection of a few genuinely interesting ideas and well acted monologues strung together with text book physical theatre, fuzzy dance and moments of actual lunacy. And while this may have been the point - highlighting the insanity of a people turning inward and destroying themselves - the topic was poorly handled. For the large part the genocide felt like a dispensable backdrop to an hour of quirky theatrical devices. For an harrowing yet balanced picture of the events in Cambodia buy and watch Bruce Robinson's The Killing Fields.
