BWW Reviews: ANIMAL/PEOPLE Keeps The Audience Guessing As The Lives Of Two Individuals are Exposed, Layer By Layer.

Friday 8 May 2015, Bondi Pavilion Theatre, Bondi Beach

James Dalton(Director) presents Brooke Robinson's ANIMAL/PEOPLE as a rollercoaster of ideas and emotions as the stories of two people, affected by traumas that go on to haunt their lives, are pieced together.

In a darkened space, the man's (Martin Crewes) voice breaks the silence as he recounts his seemingly simply morning routine which goes on to change his life. Benjamin Brockman's lighting design keeps the focus pointed onto his face, keeping the rest of the space in darkness. Robinson's words, which give little direction to the performer, having seen the script of lines, devoid of punctuation, not even sentences but more thoughts, have been interpreted to create vivid pictures of the man running and finding the victim of a gory dog attack. The light changes focus to expose the woman (Georgia Adamson) as she talks about her day at work as she examines the x-rays of a patient showing unusual results beneath the obvious fracture, with the echo of hospital machines beeping in the background (James Brown and Tom Hogan - Sound Design).

The lighting is used to focus on each character in turn and overhead fluorescent tubes add texture and drama as they provide the streaks of lights of cars on a highway or the ambient lighting over the stage. As the stories unfold and become clearer, the lights gradually lift to expose the environment around the actors. Dylan Tonkin's set of loose black rubber bitumen, loose paper rubbish and broken plaster walls keep the text as the main focus of the work, drawing on the audience imagination with the only concession being the tomb like dais, transforming the space into specific locations with a little imagination.

The monologues expose doubt, obsession, love, vulnerability, compassion, care, hope, despair, anger, and anxiety as the man deals with the guilt that he left an injured woman and the woman tries to connect to a son whose disability she caused. Both become obsessed with strangers they want to protect whilst trying to deal with their individual lives as people, partners and parents. The words have been interpreted by Crewes and Adamson with depth and understanding as they gradually reveal the connections and the secrets, utilizing pace and intonation to change moods and provide emphasis. The 'confessions' to the audience are presented to draw the audience in and make them want to sympathize whilst still being shocked and horrified in their confusion of whether they should feel compassion or repulsion.

Whilst saying any more would be giving away the storyline, this deep and challenging one act work is handled wonderfully by Crewes and Adamson. A thoughtful piece that garners a range of emotions and interpretations from viewers due to the ambiguity of the writing that the performers, whilst setting their own interpretation of the work, still allows scope for personal interpretation.

ANIMAL / PEOPLE

The Bondi Pavilion Theatre

29 April 2015- 16 May 2015

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