Cardinal sin number one of site specific theatre: Picking the wrong site! Despite the fact that Hotel Nowhere actually takes place in a hotel, and the fact that B.E.D.S. put on the play in a blacked out conference room (despite being listed in the festival program as a site specific piece) within the Jury Hotel is problematic and flat out boring. Had the piece been in an actual hotel room with a small audience cramped in, the uneven acting would have been less astringent, but as it was, every poor directorial decision just compounded the pieces problems. The text itself has some punch, where what starts as a telephone conversation between two guests in the hotel transforms into a rather depressing affair for a young politician reeling from a recent personal tragedy. But the cast simply does not breathe enough life into the story (they also run into a roadblock of multiple scenes happening simultaneously), where it often feels like everyone is always waiting for... their... next... cue. And while this vocal fumbling is going on, I kind of wished it were in an actual hotel room, because Id just be able to turn on the television so I could drown out all... of... the... awkward... Pinter...-esque... pauses.
