“some really strong components involved in this piece, but their combined effect is unfortunately unimpactful”
A panel of three people sit, getting ready, adjusting their laptops. An armchair is draped in white. Two more performers join onstage, bringing on and rearranging other pieces of furniture, all wrapped in white material. This is accompanied by a silence punctuated only by the sound of the panelists testing their microphones, until a gradual soundscape is built, and the text begins. This is a multi-disciplinary piece, that combines experimental theatre and spoken word, aided by the use of soundscape and projection.
According to the programme, the show is inspired by the story of a French postman who, in 1879, began to build a palace that he had seen in his dreams. The build took him 33 years. It is a fascinating concept but unfortunately the show is too abstract and unengaging to do it any justice. The person behind this narrative is not explored and the many wonderful possibilities are not drawn out.
Calum Lynn’s text is beautifully written, but this again is done a disservice, accompanied by the action onstage. The text is beautifully and articulately delivered, but is predominantly pitched at one level, which requires a lot of focus not to wander from. The constant furniture moving feels amateurish and unsophisticated, overly repetitive and uninspired. The actions chosen feel ingenuine and are difficult to relate to and be moved by.
At certain points, projections morph over the white furniture. As a concept this works really well and has a really strong visual effect, but the projection design is not sufficiently cohesive, and so isn’t always used to its full effect. The soundscape element, created live before us, is a really exciting part of this piece and works really well, underscoring the words.
There are some really strong components involved in this piece, but their combined effect is unfortunately unimpactful.
“plays with how we experience theatre in a really interesting way, but doesn’t succeed in using these features to their full potential within the piece”
We are handed headphones as we walk into the theatre, that I test as I wait for the show to start. The music is a cheerful, nondescript jazz piano piece. The Yard’s stage has been divided into three in a box-like setting designed by Ingrid Hu. Stage right a living room, neat and clean, centre stage an airplane, and stage left a gauze box that is being projected upon.
Lisa is going on a business trip. She is leaving her house, her beautiful house, in the care of her dad who, on the morning of her departure, has managed to fill her with “active disgust”. After interactions like this she likes to imagine unscrewing her head and replacing it with a different head so that she can see through different eyes. She is on her way to a country whose habits she has studied in great depth, but suspended above the ground, she is delivered some terrible news about her life back home.
Brad Birch’s latest play examines grief, loss of control and connection, via a well-crafted descension into surrealism, though for me this could’ve begun earlier, as this is where the play really comes into its own. Too much of the piece feels like a waiting game and risks feeling one note at points.
Wendy Kweh plays Lisa in this one-woman piece. She delivers a fantastically strong performance, committed and full of mounting anxiety, creating the other characters around her with skill and precision.
The design is visually and conceptually stunning, however it is not used to its full potential. The projections feel underused, and inconsistent in their design. They lack a feeling of cohesion. The lighting design (Joshua Gadsby) feels unsubtle, the changes too obvious. Max Pappenheim’s soundscape, which accompanies the show via our headphones, works really well predominantly but the whispering vocals add an unnecessary touch of melodrama to what is otherwise a very genuine and relatable situation.
A Kettle of Fish is a brave and exciting production directed by Caitlin McLeod, that plays with how we experience theatre in a really interesting way, but doesn’t succeed in using these features to their full potential within the piece. The writing and the production are carried by a stunning performance from Wendy Kweh.
