Theatre Review: Variations on X and why we float @ Rotunda Theatre, Theological Hall, until March 18
When was the last time something really moved you? When have you had an experience so powerful that it gave you goosebumps, or made your hair stand on end? Luckily, the Drama Department’s winter major, Variations on X & why we float, may just be able to satisfy your cravings for truly refreshing theatre.
The most important thing to note about X and why is that it is by no means your typical theatre experience. The plot—if you can call it that—is derived from texts by Tim Etchelles, a writer for the
British theatre company Forced Entertainment, whose goals are to explore the possibility of theatre that uses multimedia to describe contemporary life. X and why takes a similar approach to this in proposing various post-modern ideologies through various mediums.
“The piece is an experiment, a hybrid of theatre, film, movement, light and conceptual art,” director Michelle Newman told the Journal. “It is not a story, though if it were it would be the story of 12 people in a room together trying to make a piece about light, and about love, and loss and lostness.”
Yet, even though the production abandons a conventional narrative in favour of a highly improvisational and slightly abstract mode of storytelling, it makes room for the idea that most moments in life are ephemeral. In such a case as this, it stresses that these moments need not find their importance in spectacle and self-glorification, but in their simplicity.
X and why tests the limits of acting and realizes what performance can become when it is stripped down to its bare bones. It is an exploration of the different people you can become, going far enough to have the actors play themselves on stage through answering questions about their own lives and experiences while being filmed. Unfortunately, this exploration drags on a bit too long—with the play running a lengthy 3 hours—dulling the wow factor of an otherwise excellent production.
Nonetheless, the cast redefine what performance means by participating in everything from an energetic dance scene to Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang,” to bringing out instruments for a rendition of “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin. No matter what they’re doing, the cast shines as a talented ensemble, feeding off and building on each other’s energy.
The immediacy of the play forces the audience to live in the moment, as not only are the performers acting in front of you, but filming the unfolding action live, as well. Scenes are projected onto various surfaces in various ways–some grainy, some kaleidoscopic, some multi-dimensional. In essence, the nature of X and why procures the idea that life itself can be art and beauty is present in the seemingly banal.
X and y is unique in the way it uses multimedia to not only let the actors tell their stories, but to be a story in and of itself.
The set, designed by Sarah Cutfield, Michael Murphy and Michelle Newman, creates a sort of funhouse feeling, with mirrors, screens, a fire pole, zip lines and acting taking place on the balcony above the audience, only to be seen through the eyes of the camera. It is so visually appealing that it challenges the audience to decide what they should focus on and it’s often interesting to note which aspect draws your greatest attention.
This over-stimulation is something that has become characteristic of our generation’s need for constant consumption. X and why, through technology and frequent references to pop culture—including songs from Aladdin to scenes from 24—it explores feeling lost in such a fast-paced world.
Simply put, this is not your grandmother’s theatre. It is specifically geared to our generation, one that is often so overwhelmed by our hurried existence that we want to focus on finding a route back to simplicity without isolating ourselves from the technological media that have come to define us.
Its value lies in its ability to create a new language for old emotions, both about art and how people respond to the world they live in.
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