An original work based on lived experience from international theatre-maker and performer April Albert, Beast in the Room is a 45-minute performance featuring Albert and her teenaged son, Jule Boyle, that uses different storytelling techniques to explore the themes of personal loss and trauma within a broader societal context.
The show opens with Albert walking on in a white top and suit jacket with black pants, alongside Boyle, who’s in more casual and all-white attire, against a set of wooden pallets assembled into a rough pyramid shape and accented by pot plants and ferns of varying sizes.
In the opening sequence, there’s an immediate blend of the three storytelling approaches that will be used throughout the show – autofictional, theatrical devising and casual conversation – with advice given to those who are grieving that leads into a personal story expressed through scripted and playful conversation, and quick interactions with the audience.
There’s a smattering of German spoken, accompanied by projected English text on the set floor and snippets of pop music with rave-like lighting, which together hint at the more theatrical combination of sound, light and creative projections that comes later.
The transitions between the different storytelling styles and vignettes are swift, so feel a bit disorienting at first, but the piece does settle into a interdisciplinary rhythm that delivers quiet moments of contemplation alongside the bigger analogies used to frame the work.
As the experienced performer, Albert’s presence has a lot more polish and is certainly more physical; however, without Boyle, there’d be no show. It’s his lived experience that becomes the centrepiece to provoke reflection on how do we, as a collective, help younger and future generations cope in a world full of mass tragedy and atrocities. There is one scene where Boyle’s softly spoken voice is a little overpowered by the sound and projections, which is sure to be adjusted as the season progresses.
The approach of using different storytelling modes is ambitious, with the stronger two elements being the resonance of the autofictional elements along with the theatrical scenes that combine physical movement with sound, light and visual projections.
The casual conversation elements and swift audience interactions have perhaps been included as a way to break up the solemnity of the work – so the audience isn’t left feeling completely hopeless. By the second half of the performance, however, they become unnecessary interruptions that momentarily break the rhythm rather than enhancing it.Â
Read: Exhibition review: Laure Prouvost: Oui Move In You, ACCA
Overall, Beast in the Room, achieves its aim of using the performer’s individual and family experience as a magnifying glass to explore difficult topics within society to leave the audience with a sense of profound reflection.Â
Beast in the Room
Theatre Works
Creators/Performers: April Albert and Jule Boyle
Creative Collaborators: Rachel Baring and Andi Snelling
Visual/Projection and Set Designer: Matto Lucas
Lighting Designer: Sidney Younger
Sound Designer: Sharyn Brand
Co-Producer: Jaz Yates
Tickets: $20-$45
Beast in the Room will be performed until 28 March 2024.
