The Stage

State of Emergency

Published Wednesday 12 November 2008 at 16:25 by Emma Barnett

Everyone wants a quiet life - for the outside world just to let them get on with what they want to do. And usually, beyond illness and other unstoppable human frailties, people can get on and do just that. The average person in the Western world doesn’t have to worry about state control and only comes into contact with the scary side of government when a crime is suspected.

However in Richter’s world, this isn’t the case. The state controls all families it has allowed into a gated community and all those who are battling to get in from an outside filled with gunfire.

Richter plunges you into a situation which could happen anywhere, but it is the production, direction and enactment of this script which is of really high spec. Performed inside a sealed-off glass room, the audience are crammed in alongside the action and forced to play Big Brother, watching some uncomfortable family scenes through a glass wall.

The set is inspired and the acting is high quality. Glimmers of bravery, hope and fear shine through each of the characters. Cullen plays the Man with an incredible warmth and wholesomeness. Alexander wracks her body with all the paranoia and fear of a Woman trying to do the right thing for her family. And Lamb’s performance as Boy finishes off the picture of the extreme dysfunctionality caused by terrible control.

Although the play’s language and the themes it raises achieve impressive verisimilitude, its enjoyability factor as a play is limited. The ground covered gets quite repetitive. It seems Orwellian environments have been explored time and time again of late. You don’t walk out feeling particularly enlightened or moved. It’s more of a window to a warped social scenario - but the quality of acting and production make this performance memorable.