Untitled
★★★☆☆ Detached
theSpace @ Symposium Hall (Venue 43): Mon 12 – Sat 24 Aug 2024
Review by Hugh Simpson
Mon Espoir’s Untitled at theSpace @ Symposium Hall is an intriguingly uneven work. Its depiction of difficult emotions and the workings of memory is always interesting, if sometimes difficult to process.
The lack of a title for Gabriela Krumova’s play – even if the audience are offered a grand prize for naming it – speaks of a lack of confidence that is certainly not borne out by the production, which has a great conviction about it. Possibly too much so, as it makes very few concessions to its audience.
Kiara Reynolds. Pic Ivan Ivanov
At first, the logic of the story seems to make little sense, being more dreamlike. We see Elena (Krumova, performing as Kiara Reynolds) and Robin (Cee Reville), their backgrounds and the start of a previous relationship between them – even though at first they seem to be strangers brought together by an accident.
There is also something distinctly odd about some of the words and the delivery; at times it has the quality of poetry, but poetry spoken by someone who has never heard of the form and has little idea what it is.
disconcerting
This is extremely disconcerting, and cannot just be explained away by the fact that some of the cast are performing in a language other than their first. Then, however – and it is difficult to explain why without giving too much away – it becomes clear that the subject matter makes this approach entirely deliberate and completely appropriate.
It still makes for some awkwardness, as does the piling up of miserable events through much of the story. The lack of connection between the characters on stage also means that the audience feel correspondingly distanced from them; once again, this is deliberate, but it feels odd.
Kiara Reynolds and Cee Reville. Pic Ivan Ivanov
There is certainly warmth in the depiction of Elena by Reynolds, and in Reville’s Robin. Both outsiders, they find common ground in a way that is utterly believable, and depicted with restraint.
Solene Capaldi gives a bitter tinge to Elena’s mother, while Nina Doncheva has a glacial calm as Sandy. The direction of Noemie Galante and Emma Brownlee is measured and exacting, while Paul Luengbenjarong’s sound and light design are atmospherically spartan.
sincere
There are certainly faults with this production, and it is infuriating at times, but it is undoubtedly sincere. What seems impossibly detached turns out (once again, without too many spoilers) to be about an almost impossible sadness, expressed as detachment because there may not be another way of doing it.
Running time: 45 minutes (no interval)
theSpace @ Symposium Hall (Annexe), Hill Place, EH8 9DR (Venue 43)
Monday 12 – Saturday 24 August 2024
Daily (not 18) at 7.20 pm
Details and tickets: Book here
Instagram: @mon_espoir_theatre
Solene Capaldi and Kiara Reynolds. Pic Ivan Ivanov
ENDS
