Review: VILLAIN, INTERRUPTED, VAULT Festival

"You are just as powerless as the rest of us"

What if a comic book was turned into a play? Theatre company Dolls in Amber is ready to answer this question. Villain, Interrupted begins with a journalist interviewing Gina (Emma Richardson), a therapist who worked in the Powered Offenders Institute, attempting to convert supervillains into heroes through her own superpower - psychology.

The show goes into themes including mental health, the concept of masculinity, queerness, and the industrial prison complex while still remaining hilarious and breaking the boundaries of the superhero genre typically domainted by straight white men. Along with great storytelling, the show brilliantly uses a classic projector to put images on a white screen behind the actors, using drawings and shadow puppetry to tie in the two genres of comic books and theatre.

Gina's first support group is certainly made up of an interesting bunch of "supervillains" - King Cobra (Sofia Engstrand), also known as "Westie", is able to use her eyes to either knock people out or get them high and also uses the venom in her body to create drugs that she sells with her all-female gang.

Charlie (Engstrand again) and Xanthie (Forristal), two young adults, become stuck in the same body after the incident that seemingly gave people powers, going by Lady Injustice and gaining complementary powers - Charlie is able to tell when people are lying and Xanthie can compel people to tell the truth. And Ink Lord (Robbie Bellekom), is a young person who has the ability to bring their drawings to life.

Bellekom, Engstrand, and Forristal do a brilliant job of becoming different characters throughout the show while still managing to establish each of their main characters and their personality. Engstrand was able to transform herself from one supervillain to another in an instant by simpling switching chairs and changing up her acting to become a new person.

One of my favourite parts of the show came at the end, when Gina recreates the events that she had previously spoken of earlier on in the show, but this time with all of the context that led to the prison riot. It is a smart way of giving a new interpretation of events to the audience while also giving relatively satisfying endings to the characters, especially Ink Lord and Westie.

I was also in awe of Richardson's acting in a particular scene in which she is smiling on the outside but having a complete mental breakdown on the inside, which is shown to the audience entirely through her eyes. The moment is truly powerful and makes the audience root for Gina to fight her inner demons and win.

Kudos must be given to KT Robert, the writer, producer, and puppeteer of Villain, Interrupted, who operates the projector throughout the show, perfectly matching what is happening on the stage with what is happening on the screen. I particularly adored one bit in which colours are splashed onto the projector, taking what was once a white space and transforming it into a rainbow canvas. KC Lylark's artwork perfectly fits the comic book world of Villain, Interrupted, going from silly moments with rainbows rhinos and Teletubbies to more serious moments including psychological manipulation and violent attacks.

Ultimately, Villain, Interrupted is a fun show that gives the "villains" a chance to shine while also looking at the psychology in a world in which those who have powers are feared, separating the world into "us versus them". It is truly a heroic feat to be able to use an old-fashioned projector in modern times and make it feel fresh and straight out of a comic book. I look forward to seeing what genre-breaking show Dolls in Amber will tackle next!

Villain, Interrupted ran at the VAULT Festival on 18 and 19 March in the Studio at The Vaults

Photo Credit: VAULT Festival

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