Shutterland

Shutterland is an occasionally effective piece of absurdist theatre about the future of humanity, and takes the audience into a world where there is no free will and everything is governed by technology.

The four young performers are fantastic; giving strong physical performances, executing some excellent choreography and creating a visually interesting piece. Sadly however the writing is generally very poor; the attempted satire and social comment is weak and as a result most of the action seems pointless and only there to allow the cast to show off. There is no sense of flow, and towards the end there are only a few moments that are at all gripping; mostly it just feels pretentious and patronising.

There is even one scene where members of the audience are heard to audibly comment on the similarities with Brazil, and there certainly is a Gilliam-esque feel to the show; this isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, the piece feels like an amateur copy at best.

It’s a shame that the material is so uninspiring, because the cast perform excellently, particularly well in a scene showing an “Information Point” which is the recipient of the only big laughs in the show.

This company have great potential, but as it stands Shutterland is worth avoiding.

– Chris Wheeler