One is never quite sure what’s going on in Enda Walsh’s Arlington. A dystopian world is depicted, environmental degradation is implied and an authoritarian society is portrayed – but the narrative itself remains nebulous.
Within this context, we meet three individuals, one after the other (played by Phaedra Nicolaidis, Emma Harrison and Jack Angwin) who inhabit sparse, utilitarian rooms located in bleak urban towers.
It becomes clear that, at some point, these towers began proliferating with incredible speed in the unnamed city. As they continue to spread and more people are “sent” to the towers, the metropolis becomes eerily quiet at street level.
The three individuals are under strict surveillance by an unknown authority, their every move recorded by cameras and microphones. They’re given cues over loudspeakers by the authority – ordered to re-enact certain moments from their lives.
A digital numerical counter on the wall flashes up numbers, recalling an appointment management system one might expect to see in a Centrelink or Medicare office.
Songs from the 1970s and ’80s (Andrea True’s ‘More, More, More’ and Roxy Music’s ‘More Than This’ among them) play arbitrarily over the loudspeakers. They hark back to more innocent times, forming a chilling juxtaposition between fuzzy nostalgia and the dystopian setting crafted by set and costume designer Kate Beere, light and video designer Aron Murray and composer/sound designer Steve Toulmin.
The three individuals relive traumas and unsettling memories. Two of them, Isla (Nicolaidis) and an unnamed male (Angwin), do this mainly through verbal recollections. The other (Harrison) conveys her emotions solely through movement. As her movements become ever more frenetic, they verge on a form of contemporary dance, as transfixing and beautiful as they are disturbing.
While this play is often bleak, it’s not a one-note production. There are moments of dark humour interspersed throughout – and, towards the end, hope.
The story is not presented on a platter in an obvious, easily digested form; it’s a challenging work that’s perhaps better thought of as an experience: one that will make the audience ruminate on themes such as freedom, individuality and the way society can function as a machine, chewing people up and spitting them out.
Audience members almost become creative partners in this production, in that they’re expected to construct the backstory themselves and create their own meanings and conclusions.
Read: Theatre review: Uncle Vanya, Ensemble Theatre
Arlington premiered at the Galway International Arts Festival in 2016. It subsequently transferred to New York City for a successful run at St Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. This production, directed by Anna Houston, is the first time it’s been staged in Australia.
Eschewing realism and theatrical norms, it’s not a play for everyone – but this disturbing, thought-provoking work will surely appeal to theatregoers seeking an offbeat, unusual experience.
Arlington by Enda Walsh
Presented by Empress Theatre and Seymour Centre
Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre, Chippendale NSW
Director: Anna Houston
Assistant Director: Saz Watson
Choreographer: Emma Harrison
Set and Costume Designer: Kate Beere
Light and Video Designer: Aron Murray
Composer and Sound Designer: Steve Toulmin
Empress Theatre Publicist: Sean Hall
Cast: Jack Angwin, Emma Harrison, Phaedra Nicolaidis, Georgina Symes
Tickets: $38-$54
Arlington will be performed until 24 August 2024.
