The tenth anniversary showing of Mike Bartlett’s Contractions takes place in ND2, New Diorama Theatre’s rehearsal rooms complex on the former trading floor of J P Morgan. Offices, desks and computers are everywhere to be seen; you are truly in the heart of this 9-5 world, where the play is set.
In a series of increasingly tense meetings between ‘The Manager’ (Fifi Garfield) and employee Emma (Abigail Poulton), we witness Emma’s individuality crumbling at the hands of an anonymous corporation. As her boss begins to wreak havoc on her personal life, she is forced to commit unspeakable and slightly unrealistic acts, all in order to improve her sales figures.
The set is functional, alongside office equipment props, PowerPoint projections are used; absent characters on the wall and whiteboard illustrations remind us of the bleak situation Emma is in.
I loved the evolution of Poulton’s character; from eager, young, impressive office worker to something much darker. Coupled with Garfield’s portrayal of the scary and heartless monster of a manager, the pairing were a joy to watch.
Co-produced with Deafinitely Theatre, the performance is signed as well as spoken. It’s a gripping, black comedy with a talented cast and certainly is theatre for everyone.
“in innovative and mesmerising work and deserves a bigger audience”
It’s not often I come out of the theatre wondering what on earth I have just seen, but this evening I had that experience when I left the New Diorama after watching ‘All In’ by Atresbandes Theatre Company. I was also grinning from ear to ear. I found myself thinking a lot about the experience on the way home, and waiting to write this review until I had assimilated more of the meaning.
In a surreal and random seeming hour we were treated to a series of scenes involving two people having an apparently banal, but very funny, conversation on microphones, a man listening to Beethoven’s Ninth, four people in an apartment trying to get dinner ready in an imagined kitchen, a catsuit clad crooner singing in Japanese, back projection of thousands of Korean or Chinese dancers and more! The kitchen scene was so hilarious that I thought the man behind me might collapse from laughter. Other scenes were hauntingly sad, although it’s hard to know why at the time. In several scenes one actor represented the outsider, trying and failing to gain acceptance from the group, in fact the ‘tyranny of the crowd that annihilates the individual’ is the underlying theme of the show.
The use of projected words and phrases, video, smoke and soundscapes, designed by Cube.bz from Gerona, was highly effective and an integral part of the performance. Astrebandes are from Barcelona and they bring a refreshing and totally bonkers form of theatre making with them. The company was formed in 2008 and they work collaboratively, devising their work together. They say that their work is based on a triangle of friendship, doubt and uncertainty, and that they try to question everything around them. The four actors are Mònica Almirall Batet, Albert Pérez Hidalgo, Miquel Segovia Garrell and Melcior Casals Castellan and the connection between them is very strong. After the performance they spoke about how hard it is for them to be away from home with the current upheavals taking place in Catalonia and read a short statement.
Their award winning collaboration results in innovative and mesmerising work and deserves a bigger audience than they had tonight, only thirteen people were in the theatre to experience the show. If you want to have an unusual evening at the theatre try and get along, they are there until Saturday.
