Reliance Falls is the redneck American backwater that hides an intriguing secret. The town is on the brink of utter ruin after the run-off from a quarry, meant to boost the town economy, did nothing but pollute the stream. The life source of the town is long gone, until a media sensation erupts around some very peculiar goings on. Fridtijof Fredo is the Norwegian migrant who made a promise to his dying grandpa, that he would preserve his corpse to bring him back to life in a utopia. To economise in the expensive field of cryogenics, Fredo filled his shed in the mountains with dry ice and corpses.The play is an entertaining tale of media intrigue, Palin-like politics, and the quest of an endearing man to fulfil the promises he made to his last family member. Vox Motus Theatre Company expresses a desire to be truly theatrical, using multimedia to deliver playful and very entertaining theatre. They certainly achieve a unique show which I would encourage people to go and see if they can afford it. The effects they produce cannot come cheap, but it certainly makes it a cut above the rest. Production values are high.The shed at the heart of the story is a truly wonderful piece of stage design. Within a space of barely four by two metres it can intricately fold out and unveil an incredible number of different settings. Inside the small box is a bar, the inside and outside of a cafe, a boat on a river that covers the whole stage and a makeshift cryogenics facility. While this magnificent and complex piece of set design is the pride and joy of the play it still uses many other media to make every part of the show glimmer with complex design. A live feed camera is used to deliver a Fox News effect, both acted and projected on the stage at the same time. Lighting and sound is wrapped into the show to create any scene or event that the cast wish to give to the audience. An entertaining play is made into an extravagant and overwhelming display of what can be achieved onstage by a theatre company with both resources and the knowledge of how appropriately to use them.
