Reviews

101

Editorial Staff

An audience member is asked “what sound does the moon make?” to which she instinctively responds with a sort of shrill Mexican cry. There are other people in the audience making the sound effects for berries hanging from bushes, whilst some of us are given the more straightforward job of being a tree.

When you enter the darkly lit basement studio of ‘ONEOHONE’ Theatre Company you have to relinquish your title of audience member and be prepared to lead a genuinely interactive piece of theatre. Each performance uses a classic text as its foundation – think Shakespeare or Fairytales – and then the audience is guided by the performers to shape and retell the narrative.

The company aims to explore and develop our emotional response to classic texts and, while it is evident that audience members really enjoy the experience, I’m not sure that it prompts them to be deeply reflective about the issues at the centre of their chosen narrative.

Go along to 101 to experience a new, admirable approach to theatre (and to have a lot of fun in the process) but don’t expect to have your understanding of classic texts fundamentally altered.

– Charlotte Pegram