This well researched, provocative piece of investigative theatre explores the experiences and issues around people who believe themselves to be alien abductees.
Four actors, wearing disposable white coveralls, take turns to introduce themselves using a microphone that is abruptly removed by a mysterious fifth figure clad in a silver ‘spacesuit’ and helmet. Using black and white balloons of various sizes scattered around to create sections on the broad stage, actors share stories of abduction experiences, sceptical reactions to stories, the common life experiences of abductees – social exclusion, relationship breakdowns, self-doubt, paranoia and an endless wondering: ‘why me?’
ALIEИATION sorely lacked any overarching narrative structure to hold together the various perspectives. Vague attempts to overlap the life tale snippets fell flat, but whether the failure of these to work together was due to an over-ambitious script or a directorial oversight, it is impossible to say. However, given that playwright Lachlan Philpott was moved to place a short note on each opening night seat, distancing himself from a production that had removed all trace of his name from the program despite prominent placement on promotional material and posters near the theatre, it seems that Philpott is accepting none of the responsibility for the presentation’s lack of coherence.
Each actor played two roles, that of an allocated character, and also themselves. Supplying relevant autobiographical details to frame each individual’s concept of truth and reality was an intriguing touch, but the method of introducing each new part of the performance with a declaration such as ‘Rob is playing Will now’ was clumsy and made it hard for the audience to sympathise with the awkward situations or dilemmas faced by the various characters, or to engage with what could have been a disarmingly intimate experience of seeing actors playing themselves. Despite this, Natalie Holmwood charmed with both her frantically happy character and optimistic self.
The dance scene between Will (Robert Jago) and Catherine (Holmwood), set against a series of stunning galactic backdrops showed that, even after a possible encounter with higher life forms, a gawky accountant will still dance like a gawky accountant. A mystifying scene with Luke Hewitt wandering dazedly across the stage in a frilled petticoat was later explained when his character’s wife, Tiffany (Naomi Hanbury), threw it at him in disgust, his ‘proof’ that he had been abducted. His obsession with abductee chat rooms and inability to move on had long since become tiresome, and it was difficult to care.
With one-liners about probing, green spots on school kids and ‘Raelene the Raelian’, this performance felt like a tedious workshop session opened to the public. ALIEИATION undoubtedly enjoyed plenty of research in its creation, but this should not be such a prominent feature by the time a work is presented. Lighting featured some interesting touches, using reflections in balloon surfaces and a string of coloured lights along the floor behind the screen at the rear of the stage. The unobtrusive soundtrack was not annoying, but contributed little more to the show.
With so much talent on stage and in the technical team, ALIEИATION is an unmitigated disappointment, for believers and sceptics alike.
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
ALIEИATION
A Perth Theatre Company production, co-produced with Q Theatre Company
Directed by Melissa Cantwell
Set and Costume Design: Bruce McKinven
Lighting Design: Benjamin Cisterne
Sound Design: Peter Dawson
Assistant Director: Ian Sinclair
Movement: Sue Peacock
AV Design: Roly Skender
Intergalactic Gadgetry: Anthony Watts
Stage Manager: Michael Maclean
Performed by Naomi Hanbury, Luke Hewitt, Natalie Holmwood and Robert Jago
Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, Northbridge
28 June – 13 July
