THEATRE REVIEW: Between Two Waves | Stooged Theatre

Shaking, at times terrifying, themes abound – a ringing bell of the doom & desperation of our modern age; in particular that nasty relationship between the inescapable, globally destructive truths of climate change & the shiftlessness of those responsible for (& able to change) the forces behind it in the form of the bullshit ego-realm of human politics & other human greed agendas. Yes, heady. Yes, bleak – to some degree. Yes, confronting. Hopeful? No, not really. The script itself - to my mind - did leave a little to be fully desired at times, perhaps, just trying to delve a bit too deep, reach a bit too high, appear a bit too "clever". But powerful theatre? Still very much so, I'd say, very much so. So this dense ‘nightmare of the modern age’ is the undercurrent & over this deeply troubling basis is a weaving wander through what I guess one might call “basic human psychology”. Basic because it is just so simple. It's people – desperate, anxious, caring, in love, out of love, in love again, arguing, needing, giving, taking … just all of those weird little bits & pieces that construct “us”. And what we are caused to realise is that it is “us”; these weird little psychological creatures, who are causing this looming cataclysm - & therefore able to change it … the only force able to change it … but here we are, fumbling thru our little personal foibles & stupid egos & day to day ruts & anxieties & biz while it all comes smashing down slowly in the background … It’s bleak & it is painful & emotional - but this is testimony to the fact that it is played well, directed well, crafted well – it is played, directed & crafted so well that it frik’n hurts! Theatrically speaking it’s another notch in the belt of Stooged Theatre who, simply put, just produce great on par, contemporary theatre here in Newcastle. A great cast of strong young actors who really carry the multi layered characters that sell this story to the viewer. Though it is Timothy O’Donnell who really does the hard yards - & does them well to boot (one of his anxiety attack scenes was so hectic that it nigh triggered an attack in me!) particular ups must be given to Giverny Lewis for the edge of realism that she gave to what could be a difficultly “normal” character to play. In fact - when considering the time hopping, multilayered complexities of this script - ups must really be given to all of the cast. Cool set design, strong direction, great local soundtrack & good acting - not a perfect script perhaps but this opinion may differ from viewer to viewer - all in all congrats must go to all involved for another great Stooged production. ZW