Seeing Double: Figures is a testament to innovation at its best. Littered with confusion and misunderstanding throughout, this is a farce in the best sense of the work. The characters are well-drawn and while some of them might be caricatures they are no less believable. The melodrama utilised by the cast is on the right side of funny and the production is undeniably hilarious.
The cast in Seeing Double: Figures play a production team working on Macbeth. Using lo-fi props which perfectly compliment the shambolic situation, the actors transport us into their world. There is the nervous stage management intern with a sweat problem – ‘it’s a condition’; the over- the- top costume maker who mixes contemporary and olden language with consummate skill; the laid back lighting designer, and - my favourite - Flea, the marketing manager, played by an actress whose subtle sense of comic timing marks her out as a natural comic.
The producer - wound up like a spring - drafts in the guest director Julio Buenaventura two weeks before opening night to rescue her show so she isn’t reduced to working on ‘off West-End panto’. When Buenaventura demands that the production team don’t enter the rehearsal room they decide to spy on the rehearsal process (taking place live across the courtyard and the material for Seeing Double: Vision – a sister show to Seeing Double: Figures) using a video link which is placed in the rehearsal room. No sound and a faulty connection is a perfect cue for slap stick humour.
Here is a company who meticulously thought through every last detail of the performance in order to ensure that there were no loose ends or nagging little things that an audience might want to change. Unadulterated performance at its best, this show is worth a watch whatever genre of theatre you are interested in.
