What do you do when you realise that the life you have lived up until now isn’t the life you wanted to live? Who are you now and where are you going? How far will you go in search of a home? These are the big questions dealt with in The Collision of Things, an innovative play that, if nothing else, scratches the surface of what it means to be human.
It’s well known that finding a flat in London can be hard and Tom is determined to do just that. After attending the funeral of the father he never knew, he decides to stay in London and goes to a viewing to see the flat of the lovely couple of Jan and Luisiana. What starts off as a simple landlord-tenant relationship quickly develops into an unlikely friendship as the lives of these three souls collide on the streets of a foreign city. As tragedy and sorrow draw closer, they must decide on how much they are willing to sacrifice to stay together.
This is a wonderful piece of physical theatre, clever and simple at the same time. The international cast carries out their parts with great skill and the chemistry between the three actors is obvious. The production is based on real events and inspired by the cast and crew’s own experiences. The subtle intensity with which they carry out their parts and the inherent immediacy connected with verbatim theatre enhances the audience’s feeling of taking part in something intimate and important; these are real people, with real lives and real problems, making the play easy to relate to and moving to watch for anyone fortunate enough to be present.
Subtlety is the key element here. In a play that so easily could be seen as exaggerated and overdone, the powerful live music and the actors’ wonderfully gentle physicality helped slow the performance down and give it the depth it so desperately needs. As the story unfolds, the audience cannot help but be moved by the subtle intensity with which the actors carry out their parts and when tragedy finally hits no viewer is left unaffected.
Combining a fantastic script, great acting, wonderful physical performance and live music, The Collision of Things is nothing but a joyous experience, filled with laughter, sorrow and, most importantly, hope.
