Latest from Noises Off
[Scene 1 happens]
Lights dim. Agnes gets up from where she has been crying on the floor. She appears to be completely fine. She clears away and exists stage left. Lights up.
[Scene 2 happens]
Lights dim. The stage is empty for a few minutes. Someone in the audience eats a pringle. Then, Agnes and the Nurse enter stage left with a table covered in a white sheet. Lights up.
[Scene 3 happens]
Lights dim. Taiwo stands alone onstage, illuminated in orange backlighting. He shuffles nervously. He looks about, stage right and left. He waits. Eventually, the Nurse enters stage right, and they carry the table off stage left. Lights up.
[Scene 4 happens]
Lights dim. The stage is empty and dark. A piece of dramatic music plays for about three minutes. Lights up.
*
I’m trying to form a coherent opinion, but everything feels disconnected. The scenes feel disconnected from each other by the long pauses needed to move the tables around, and I feel disconnected from Agnes; I’m working really hard to invest my imagination in her, while she is forced to break character to rearrange the scenery.
I’m trying to understand the intention behind these decisions, which made it so difficult for me to stay engaged. Maybe they were chosen in an attempt to harness the dwindling respect afforded to naturalism, as a dominant historical tradition of British theatre. Perhaps this was meant to ensure Agnes’s experiences were treated with seriousness and gravity. I don’t know. It didn’t work for me.
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@noffmag / [javascript protected email address]
