The Silence Came

The Silence Came
Written and Directed by Duncan Maurice. The Commons, Darlinghurst. April 21-May 26, 2014.

You show up at an old house in Darlinghurst for a production you’ve got little idea about. You’re in control, they tell you. There are various rooms across the three levels of this house and it’s up to you which room you spend time in and which characters you get to know.

There’s a man named Timothy who shows you in. You’ve come about the room? (You’re meant to reply “yes”). Here it is but please also look around, spend some time with the other tenants. In the basement, two newlyweds are having an argument and a Spanish-speaking couple is dealing with immigration on the phone. There’s a lesbian couple, too, and a mother and son with a strangely close relationship. The landlord is upstairs.

None of the tenants lives in salubrious surrounds. Most are immigrants and many have problems paying the rent. These financial difficulties provide the dramatic impetus for the piece.

Your impression of The Silence Came is likely to be different to mine, as you’ll see different bits of it. If you’re like me, you’ll want to get to know all the tenants, but that’s simply not possible in an hour and a half. For this reason, you may be left feeling that this production doesn’t quite hit the mark.

It’s difficult to get to know any of the characters properly. And you may well miss out on spending time with them all before everything comes together in an exciting but strange climax.

The audience is encouraged to participate in The Silence Came but in a much less ambitious way than promised. We’re largely observers and we don’t really influence what’s happening. I’d have preferred to choose my own adventure, change the ending perhaps, or at least influence it. And to have the chance to properly converse with one of the characters, maybe even ask a few questions.

The idea of immersive theatre – “theatre you control”, as the producers promise – is fun and potentially dynamic. It’s not restrictive or prescriptive and offers the freedom to move, interact or simply relax outside the normal conventions of watching, silently in the dark.

But I wasn’t in control and neither was any other audience member. In fact, it’s difficult to stay in control of the plot as the production comes to an end, with all the characters running around madly and the audience struggling to see. What’s more, while the play (or is it the house?) captures a somewhat morbid atmosphere, it doesn’t say a lot – about sharing a house, living with others or the difficulties of being new to this country of ours.

Full points to this ensemble of actors for providing an exciting, different kind of theatrical experience. It’s now sold out so they must be doing something right. If you’ve got a ticket, maybe you’ll be given more time with the characters as the production matures. I just hope you get more out of it than I did.

Peter Gotting

 

Images: Dwayne Olford and Christina Sankari; Tess Brown, Aston Campbell and Sharon Zeeman, & Nick Rowe and Lumka Coleman. Photographer: Aston Campbell.

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