This is a play devised by Gwirvos Theatre, a group of Falmouth University students, and directed and designed by Klaus Kruse. A blend of Albert Camus’ The Plague and the current pandemic are at heart of this experimental piece of immersive theatre, bringing death, religion and infection into the virtual world.
We don’t really know who the characters are, we merely get a tiny insight into their lives; we get short videos, movement recordings, screen panels, songs and French accents instead. It's a colourful performance of the narrative of a pandemic. The images and discourses get highlighted by the rich use of technical resources which turn it into an interactive experience, as we, the audience, have the freedom to change in which direction we look within the performance space.
This freedom does however feel powerless at some moments, as we are surrounded by images moving in circles around us, almost hunting us: the ones who have survived the plague so far.
Red background recordings of religious voices and glimpses of what seem to be infected people accompany us as we travel through this virtual reality into the unknown, the futureless, and the despair. Although, these are just concepts, hence impersonal and hard to relate to for the audience. This play has so much to say, and it is so original in its form, and yet we cannot feel it. Like a beautifully decorated promising gift box that happens to be empty somehow.
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