The Unnamed

There is a great sense of community going into the same ‘shop front’ theatre space every week to see a new offering from a bunch of lively, interesting and courageous actors.  Maybe the work is not as polished as it would be if they had had even a few more days rehearsal time, let alone two or three more weeks.  But every production has had heaps to recommend it and has been a joy to watch.

The Unnamedis a bemusing little piece with heaps of room to grow and develop in to a really intriguing work that explores what, in a tense and highly charged environment, even a slight shift in the status quo can do to equilibrium. What is really going on here is anybody’s guess.

Five workers in an enclosed room are doing something both amazing and ridiculous with sand that is intermittently delivered to them in an ingenious way.  They have down time after they have collected, sieved, tested and disposed of the sand, where they all seem to need to rest from their frenetic activity.  The atmosphere is edgy and one senses that there are some pretty significant personal and political differences that remain in check, as long as they all function in the prescribed way, and, no one becomes too irritated. 

Again it is fascinating to watch the actors one saw doing something completely dissimilar, only a week ago, taking on a completely new character in a totally different genre of work.  For the third time in a row I have been impressed by the complexity of subtext Freya Pragt is able to bring to her work.  This time I was surprised that there was little humour in Tom Molyneux’s vulnerable outsider and I witnessed a new dimension in the acting of Susannah Firth, Jason Cavanagh and Sebastian Gunner. 

A casting agents joy.

Suzanne Sandow

Other 5pounds Repertory reviews.

Falling Petals

Sally

Pygmalion