Aufbruchsgeister: Departing Minds @ Old Customs House
Friday, January 18, 2022
Departing Minds took audiences on a journey as they became part of the forest and learned to come to terms with who they were, separate from the complexity of life. The piece consisted of abstract monologues written in German by Bello Benischauer, the director, and translated to English by Elisabeth M. Eitelberger, fellow founder of Existence Theatre and crew member.
Cushioning these monologues were devised and improvised movement sequences. They were simple exercises, but some were so captivating that you realised you held your breath and were sitting at the edge of your seat, not quite sure why.
It was performed by an ensemble of four women who began building the performance in September. While a small group, they claimed the space with an energy that you would expect from a larger crew. The cast was like a forest, each unique actor, working together to form a single organism. The movement quality was not the refined stiffness of ballet line, but a powerful use of the body for expression, and a perfectly kindled kinesthetic awareness of one another. On the night, Liv Richardson, dressed in green, stood out with her frenetic confidence of movement, and was hard to take your eyes off.
Stepping into the Old Customs House, there was an atmosphere of stillness. The white, echoing, pillared building felt like a forest itself, leaving the audience whispering as they entered. The sparse use of props and lighting magnified the director’s bold strokes with his actors. Each audience member was handed a stick by the director, a simple yet unique sensory immersion for the audience. Sitting with the textured bark in their laps, while watching the forest build around them. On a more practical note, the vocals were often lost in the acoustics of the building and the spartan light set-up meant some of the movement’s nuance were lost to the darkness as well.
The sound design was responsive to the energy of the actors in the space, orchestrated in real time by the director. The sound library drew from snippets of their everyday life, like the sound of squeaky floorboards in the rehearsal studio, or the irritation sound a crew member’s phone made, as well as a synthesizer – all layered to form a disorientating, rich and hard to pin down soundscape.
The piece felt like an abstract paper mâché vase they had been building layer by layer through improvisation, experimentation and spontaneity that was finally solidified. Yet in contrast, the text read like manufactured bricks slopped in-between. The playfulness of the movement and directorial choices did not extend to the timing and delivery of monologues. There was confidence and simplicity in the piece, but it lacked tension and structure.
The lacking vocal performance, ill-suited acoustics, and lighting and a lack of structured tension is what slipped Departing Minds to a 7 out of 10.
Nevertheless, a strong and thoughtful show for this Fringe season. One to ponder, discuss and argue the meaning of with the person sitting next to you on the journey home. It is a play that doesn’t leave you laughing or crying, but something to chew on and ponder for long after curtain call.
NINA DAKIN
