FESTIVAL THEATRE | Reviews
THE BUNKER TRILOGY: MACBETH Challenging adaptation of The Scottish Play set during World War I ●●●●●
The set is clearly the centerpiece of The Bunker Trilogy. Rows of benches two deep line the walls of the venue, creating a miniscule in-the-round stage with audience and cast sheltered inside a recreation WWI bunker – timbre walls, tin roof and dirt floors included. It’s from here – with plenty of theatrical smoke – that a twisted, 20th century Macbeth reenacts his bloody ploys for power in the guise of a British officer, surrounded by a cast of minions dressed up like S&M gimps in their black plastic gas masks. By far the most experimental Bunker play, Jethro Compton
(formerly of Belt Up, the company who famously turned C venues into a site specific treat in recent years) reshapes the familiar story like some sort of mustard gas-induced hallucinogenic trip. 20th century soldiers speak in 17th century iambs, and the audience is asked to actively piece together key scenes amid loud bangs, flashing lights and aggressive actor-audience eye contact – an often arduous task.
Just four players make up the cast (who appear in all three parts of the trilogy), with the drama zeroed in on Macbeth and his Lady’s evil machinations. As their actions damage their psyches, it’s like watching a power-crazed Hitler pace out his final hours in his bunker as Macbeth realises the jig is up. The intimacy of the bunker makes the tension claustrophobic - more than one member of the audience sat slumped in chin-in-hands positions, perhaps having expected something more in the style of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. (Jaclyn Arndt) ■ C nova, 0845 260 1234, until 26 Aug, 10pm, £11.50–£13.50 (£7.50–£11.50).
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THE BUNKER TRILOGY: AGAMEMNON Unexpected perspective on a wartime relationship ●●●●●
For the second chapter of The Bunker Trilogy, the ancient Greek legend of Agamemnon gets translated to a WWI setting, putting the titular character overseas in Germany while his wife, Clytemnestra, languishes at home in England. Squeezing out all the romance retrospectively assigned to wartime sweethearts, Agamemnon explores the disintegration of a marriage, asking what happens when the woman left behind longs for the death – rather than safe return – of her soldier husband. The play’s strength rests on the unreservedly
cruel, but pitiable, characters it puts forth: however, the play struggles to fit so much drama and tragedy into one hour (even eliciting a laugh when Clytemnestra abruptly asks new love Aegisthus to help ensure her husband’s death). The middle part of Bunker is the soggiest, but it lends an unexpected, feminine perspective on the most machismo of genres, unsettling notions of hero soldiers and selfless war brides, courtesy of an engaging troupe of actors. (Jaclyn Arndt) ■ C nova, 0845 260 1234, until 26 Aug, 8.30pm, £11.50–£13.50 (£7.50–£11.50).
82 THE LIST FESTIVAL 8–15 Aug 2013
THE BUNKER TRILOGY: MORGANA Claustrophobic drama of three friends trapped in a bunker ●●●●● LAQUEARIA Verbose performance that lacks theatricality ●●●●●
All the elements fall into place in the first of The Bunker Trilogy. The recreation WWI bunker that provides the series’ tiny stage is used to full effect, its claustrophobic confines reflected in the story of three school chums who find themselves trapped together under its low tin ceiling.
Though planted amid falling bombs and sniper fire, Arthur, Lance and Gawain – upper-class captains straight out of a Gilbert & Sullivan musical – find their army life dominated by the songs, whispers, and spectres of women. While Arthur and Lance bicker over Gwen, naive, sensitive Gawain gets ensnared by the charms of Morgana Le Fey. James Marlowe’s Gawain is the most accomplished of the trio, with a nuanced performance that plays to the up-close-and- personal stage design.
Borrowing bits of Arthurian legend and following a standard narrative, Morgana is not a challenging play, but an enchanting sketch of the limits of childhood fantasy in the face of devastating reality, placing the audience in the blurred line between the two. (Jaclyn Arndt) ■ C nova, 0845 260 1234, until 26 Aug, 5.45pm, £11.50–£13.50 (£7.50–£11.50).
It’s unlikely that there is a more cerebral event at this year’s Fringe than Laquearia. Based on the ideas of Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, and Samuel Beckett, it follows a chess game based on one played within Beckett’s novel Murphy. Victoria Miguel uses this meeting to investigate
Beckett’s use of the philosopher Spinoza and Cage’s interest in conceptual composition: her script compares ideas of freedom that inspired them. While Cage and Beckett ponder moments from their works, a narrator draws comparisons between them. While connections are well made, there is little
acknowledgement of theatricality. The script is solid, but the recitation of academic theories is no substitute for drama. The narrator’s need for the book, and occasional fluffed lines, are disappointing. As artists, Beckett and Cage were aware of the importance of interaction between performer and audience. The script is encumbered by the weight of ideas and the minimal production – including the atmospheric but ambient score – does little to bring the profound ideas to life. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Summerhall, 0845 874 3001, until 9 Aug, 6pm, £10 (£8).