Adelaide Fringe 2011
Nightminds
The Electric Company
Genre: Drama
Venue: Cuckoo Bar, 137, Hindley Street, Adelaide
Festival: Adelaide Fringe
Low Down
Six different facets of the subconscious are explored through soliloquies at four am before bubbling under the surface of six different personalities as they go through the mundane motions of everyday existence. As night falls each character gives in to their primal instincts; they reminisce, lust, destroy, fail, romance and question their self-worth. The audience is then taken to a post-apocalyptic world where the six characters are the only survivors and at their most vulnerable. Each character descends into extreme forms of hysteria and psychosis as their subconscious desires and survival instincts take over reason and rational thinking.
Review
This contemporary piece of theatre explored the subconscious on different levels. It unashamedly characterised the thoughts that run through our minds in the wee hours of the morning—thoughts that we would normally keep to ourselves for fear of sounding self-centred and egocentric. The raw emotions expressed by the personified elements of the subconscious were seamless, roving through the six characters in a poetically alarming way. The script explores themes of existentialism and the human spirit, questioning whether the primeval instincts that we are born with ever evolve.
The performances were exceptional and the interactive set engaged the audience in more ways than one. The cast also used portable lamps and light sculptures to create shadows and silhouettes to create dramatic effect. The unique set design dotted with these contemporary art pieces added to the overall feel of a Freudian drama.
Particularly enjoyable were the musings of the mind at the beginning, and the lyrical articulation of such a multi-layered topic. Although the mind and human emotions are popular subjects for contemporary drama, this was a unique experience that I would recommend for aficionados of postmodern philosophy and those interested in a new perspective on the subject of fundamental human instincts. This performance shows how our nightminds truly are weapons simmering beneath our carefully controlled consciousness; it is only during the silence and darkness that our true natures are revealed.
