Review: NO PARTICULAR ORDER, Theatre 503

For 30 years or so, plays that spoke of a nation torn apart by war within a recognisably European geography almost always brought the disintegration of Yugoslavia to mind. Now, of course, Ukraine has become the new reference point for such horrors, so, in some ways, Joel Tan's new play is something of an unintended trailblazer for dystopian, destroyed worlds that feel much like the one we left when we entered the theatre. (There's even an art gallery discussion that recalls the recent horror at the Mariupol Theatre).

No Particular Order unfolds as a series of scenes that form a mosaic portrait of a society in collapse and then failing to return to civil norms. Authority figures slide seamlessly into authoritarian figures (Antonio Gramsci would recognise how a teacher's materials were 'banned but not banned' by those 'upstairs'); human life is cheapened as the order of the title fractures; horrific memories suck the joy from lives individually and collectively.

There are so many scenes, some set in the past, some in the present and some 300 years in the future (very Solaris) that an unevenness is inevitable. It also takes a beat or two to realise that the one scene has ended and another has begun despite the projected captions, as the same four actors play all the roles, often without a change of clothes or accent. That's a perennial challenge for a fringe venue, but signposting can be done more effectively.

The best scenes have a spine of bitterly dark comedy running through them: the fashion consultants attempting to add floral colours to a designer's long-established grey and black pallette; two bird exterminators arguing about principle and pragmatism; a creepy older man dissecting a young activist's plan for direct action.

Jules Chan, Pandora Colin, Pia Laborde-Noguez and Daniel York Loh do a fine job, instantly creating this kaleidoscope of characters, but it's all too brief - like The Fast Show without the familiarity that catchphrases and repetition brings. We just about get to know a fleeing mother and daughter before the scene changes; the bird exterminators venture into Waiting For Godot territory, but it's choked off; a human with damaged DNA is discovered on a spaceship, but the scene doesn't really go anywhere.

One can see how Tan is building a reputation as an up and coming playwright as there's talented writing on show in these vignettes, but nothing really holds them together and the net effect is as irritating as it is interesting.

No Particular Order is at Theatre 503 until 18 June

Image: Lidia Crisafulli

 

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