Review: MOLKA, VAULT Festival

Spycams have become a very real threat. From viral denunciations of travellers complaining about sneaky AirBnb hosts to endless tips and tricks online to spread awareness, women especially are urged to be careful.

Co-created by Taeyun Kim and Maja Laskowska's, MOLKA, explores the South Korean rise in the compromise of the right to privacy. Such widespread is the issue that the term "molka", an abbreviation of molrae-kamera, has come to mean "hidden camera" in Korean.

Built alongside movement director Miia Mäkilä, it features a heavily physical narrative. A symbol-laden direction is integrated within lyrical, poetic imagery, but we feel like we're missing out on the key to decode the significance of the displayed actions. Kim and Nikita De Martin observe one another with solemn deliveries, but the plot is delphic in its inscrutable nature. They engage in a lot of intense staring between flipping a number of black tiles paranoically.

Violent games of tag make way to prolonged hugging and silent screaming, a visual translation of frustration and fear. They describe topical issues - the shielding of their eyes when they go into a public bathroom, the use of red UV filters to detect cameras - then they give a bird's-eye view of the figures associated with revenge porn, upskirting, and sexual assault. The lack of consent is broadly recognised as a turn-on, they explain.

It's a heavy topic, and the company bear the weight of it throughout. MOLKA is commendable for its avant-garde approach to the subject, which has the vibe of a Tate Modern performance-art piece more than a straight play. While it gets slightly lost in its stylistic choices and fails to provide a map for the audience to navigate its symbolism, it's a diamond in the rough.

With some further work on the building of tension and perhaps a clearer fil-rouge between scenes, it has the potential to be a bona fide socially engaged contemporary highlight. The artistic techniques of this brand new company are thoroughly compelling and essential to the current theatrical landscape. Their vision is precise, they only need to tune it slightly.

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