Dropped

Dropped
By Katy Warner. Adelaide Fringe. Gobsmacked Theatre Company. Directed and designed by David McVicar. The Queen's Theatre, Adelaide. 13-25 February, 2016.

A depiction of unsettling existence and traumatic memory in the combat zone, Dropped would seem to have the ingredients necessary for an engaging and impactful experience: two female members of the defence force, attempting to maintain a steely exterior while seeming to crumble from within.

The play is relatively static in its presentation, and the dialogue moderately cryptic in its meaning, though a number of sharp references and motifs manage to generate a level of interest and intrigue. Themes and concerns are addressed in a manner that at times feels very direct, at others very elusive.

Dialogue exchanges between the two characters are marked by incongruity of topic and unreliability of memory; childish word games are substituted for true communication. There are moments when the nature of the duet between these women becomes intriguingly playful, while the script eventually manages to dig psychological depths and to stitch unsettling details into an atmospheric pattern.

A problem for this reviewer was the lack of outside context provided, as well as a scarcity of convincing military detail, despite camouflage costumes and an adequately dressed stage. While the two performers maintain consistent characterisations, one is generally kept aware of the situation being a theatrical conceit, and the material as presented here is not compelling enough to overcome this feeling of distance between the performers and their audience.

Ultimately, it is something of a struggle to emotionally invest in these characters and their ordeal. This production does not build as a narrative or develop its themes in a dramatically engaging manner, nor does it reach a compelling conclusion; in a flash of light, it just seems to stop. While playwright Katy Warner's refusal to spoon-feed us is admirable, Dropped tends to remain too tightly locked-up, a piece of theatre performed behind a glass case with cloudy vision.

Anthony Vawser

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