It is never a good sign when, after two readings of the plot summary, I’m still not sure what the whole thing is about. The venue was mysterious, a hole-in-the-wall gallery space that was really hard to find. The programme notes were impassioned but oblique. As the lights went down I was still none the wiser. Who was Moloch?
The story as it turned out was simple. A group of soldiers left abandoned in a bunker during World War III are the subjects of a secret drug trial – a sedative called Dreamscape with psychotic side effects. The only alternative is readings from ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’, as prescribed by two newcomers with counter-culture leanings.
So far, so sci-fi. I am all for a little post-apocalypse dystopia. However, this was a talky and overlong piece with too much exposition and no new take on over-familiar ideas about mind control and war. The idea of having the soldiers perform Shakespeare as an escape from their lives worked intermittently without really adding anything to the main story.
I wanted to like this young, hard-working company but performances were variable and some of the voices were not helped by the poor acoustics of the space that gave everything more volume and echo. A more naturalistic acting style might have helped ground the play. Leads Austin Caley and Jonathan Whittaker did manage to bring a sense of reality to their characters. Actors playing the less developed characters of the other soldiers had to be content with repeated physical tics that limited their character development as the play went on.
Despite good work from the sound department, the lo-fi set and flat bright lighting meant that the ghost of Doctor Who hovered over the earnest discussions of life ‘on the surface’ only without the thrill of finally seeing a monster or two.
Overall this was a well-intentioned but underdeveloped play and production which didn’t quite make it to first base. Who was Moloch? I never did find out but I hope he’s not still in that bunker.
