Rating: **
After opening with a somewhat contrived direct-to-audience address, the physical theatre company Idle Motion’s reflection on the Great Storm of 1987 really gets going with a rapid rewind of the last 24 years; news images of important world events are projected on a back screen and umbrellas carried by the actors. It is an effective sequence, with some inventive staging. Unfortunately, the rest of the production does not manage to sustain the quality of this and a few other standout moments.
The Seagull Effect appears to owe a considerable debt to Complicite, a more experienced theatre company, which provokes unflattering (and no doubt unfair) comparisons. Several images are visually memorable (butterflies escaping from under a mattress, a disappearance into the folds of a bed), but other motifs begin to feel unnecessarily repetitive. Recorded recollections of the storm are a nice touch, but the echoing space and sound effects make them hard to understand, and their unserious tone sits awkwardly with solemn musical accompaniment.
The play’s central conceit – wide-eyed wonder at the beauty of interconnectedness – is a rich but unoriginal one, and is not served well by uneven writing. Aside from rather leaden dialogue, the play suffers from a sense of trying to shoehorn in a broad but shallow range of techniques, which (however well each is executed) gives it a feeling of student pastiche.
Idle Motion’s youth may count against them. In part, no character is ever successfully imbued with a sense of adulthood, but more importantly the play feels too restrained for the company. There is an overall feeling of playing at being grown-ups, which is entirely unnecessary for performers with such evident ability. A production like this should brim with energy: soft introspection is an ineffective substitute.
The Seagull Effect aims to be something beautiful, but weighed down by its limitations it only ever gets as far as pretty.
The Seagull Effect is playing at Zoo Roxy (Venue 115), Edinburgh EH8, until 27 August 2011. Tickets are £10 (concessions £8). Book at Edfringe.
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