connection unsecure: continue?

Playing on ideas of virtual connections versus real interactivity, isolation, walls between people and repeated patterns that build up walls, this 50 minute play wore its symbolism on its sleeve. And then tore its sleeve off to take a better look. Written by actors Ben Pritchard and Izzy Mackenzie with collaborator Mark Wilson, this two-hander charted the relationship between two virtual friends – friends on a social networking site – who overcome their fears to meet up in ‘real life’ and revel in the simple advantages of having a friend nearby. With the black and white make-up accentuating their every expression, and then gradually falling off as an actual persona emerges from the virtual mask, this was a showcase for the bullish yet gentle Pritchard and the graceful yet without vanity movements and expressions of Mackenzie. An original comment on a very contemporary society problem.

Upstairs At Three And Ten, 9 May 2012

Rating: