Latest from Noises Off
Vibrations is a recorded play written by Aisling Lally and produced by Gabii; it is a work-in-progress, and definitely a first draft, as the director Bex Vernon explains at the beginning of the recording. It tells the story of two friends: we get an insight into their relationship in a dreamy and colourful way at the beginning, as they share Haribos in the park while the birds tweet and run holding hands to the top of a hill from where they can see they rest of their town and the shiny moon. That’s how they feel the vibrations. Sam dreams of leaving the town one day and living all the exciting experience he imagines are waiting for him out of town, whereas Eli doesn’t feel that need. She is okay where she is, she says.
We see the Haribos over the clouds in few scenes, and then we see them lying in their beds alone. It’s a nice picture. It feels as if they would have no one but each other: and yet Sam has not told Eli he is gay. Eli doesn’t know exactly how, but she loves him. She just does.
One day a new guy joins Sam's dance lessons, and they start dating, when Eli needed him the most – she loses her shit and betrays him. There is no going back. We kind of excuse her because we know her life is falling apart. We can see her on the screen, before a plain white wall, looking gaunt. Aisling offers us the opportunity to empathise with her, although we can’t support what she did…Sam pushes her away, as it is understandable, and goes on dating Jerri.
The play captures subtly how two friends end up hurting each other and how the shit in their lives affects them.
(Which is very realistic. I only wish we would have the chance to get to know these characters better, to hear more about their families and how they fit —or don’t fit— in their environment.)
I vibrated with this show, because it reminded me of moments when I have felt low and behaved selfishly, or when other people acted like that and I got annoyed, even though I knew they were not 'all right'. I guess the question behind Vibrations is…at what point should we start or stop justifying people’s behaviour? And how do we tell a friend something is not okay?
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