Bleak depiction of a blank generation or punchy state-of-the-nation drama? Steve Wright finds rated Bristol company RoomOne on typically challenging form.

So many of us have finished school or university to find ourselves jobless or in meaningless jobs, struggling to get by and turn our ambitions into reality. We are suffering from ever-increasing student loans, a decreasing job market and very few signs of recovery and hope.” A bleak outlook, as spelled out by Sian Henderson, twentysomething co-founder of Bristol’s RoomOne Productions, but, it seems, rich source material for theatre-makers like her.

After last week’s Theatre Uncut at Bristol Old Vic (see review on page 71), for which playwrights responded swiftly to the government’s swingeing cuts to the arts and public services, here comes another state-of-the-nation piece of theatre that springs from a dark place. ‘Eight’, the debut play by 25-year-old playwright Ella Hickson, made big waves at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe, winning a Fringe First Award before touring to London, New York and Los Angeles. It is, essentially, a series of monologues by young people all struggling variously with the challenges, obstacles, moral dilemmas and directionlessness of modern urban life.

RoomOne are only the third company to perform the play, staging it at Bristol’s Alma Tavern next week. The company caught our eye with last year’s dazzling, emotional version of ‘Leaves of Glass’, Philip Ridley’s tale of family secrets and rivalries among a hard-working London family. “We like plays that present a dark, twisted world where the ordinary man has been pushed to the limit, and this play fits our style perfectly,” Sian continues. “There’s an incredible range and depth to the characters, and each monologue shifts the audience's perception about a character or theme – religion, criminality, homosexuality, beauty...”

Each 15-minute monologue introduces us to a young person reflecting on a recent, life-changing event. Examples include Andre, the gay art gallery owner who comes into work late one Monday morning to find that his boyfriend has hung himself above a Tracey Emin print – and who reflects on changing attitudes towards homosexuality and what it meant when difference existed. Then there’s Astrid, the young woman who has just cheated on her boyfriend, and returns to the bedroom they share to ponder the impact of infidelity. Or Miles, the big-shot young American broker who finds himself on board a London bus on 7 July 2005. Having survived the terrorist attack, he feels he has been set free to live a life of excess – but of questionable morals.

So, is there a defining mood to these monologues? Hickson’s own account runs thus: “I’m trying to tackle the negative reputation that my generation has earned itself. We’re not all apathetic, drug-munching no-brainers. We do have something intelligent to offer and we’re not afraid of having political punch. It’s about time we believed in something.” Conversely, a (positive) review in the Telegraph said that “Taken together, the monologues offer a bleak portrait of a confused and apathetic generation lacking both ideals and hope.”

“The contradiction between Ella's opinion and the way the play was received was something that interested us immediately,” adds Sian’s RoomOne co-founder Max Boon. “Reflecting back on these life-altering events, the characters often seem bleak, disturbed and defeated. However, by the time these characters have spoken their final line, they’ve often found fragments of truth which could shape their futures.”

These people are often, Max continues, desperately trying to cling to an identity or to find structure in their lives. “But this just reflects a generation of people growing up in an age in which traditional structures are weakened and identities are fluid. Religion is diminishing, families and relationships are often transient, and we have a prime minister that most people did not vote for and do not want. What remains to believe in?” All of the characters, he says, are searching for an answer to this question. Whether they find an answer is up to the audience's interpretation.

The play’s original version featured four monologues each night, with audiences voting for the quartet they’d like to see from a long list of eight after briefly meeting each character. RoomOne have kept to this malleable format, although they’ll be offering audiences a choice of six. An ingenious stroke of audience involvement or mere zeitgeisty, ‘X-Factor’ copyism? “It will give a different dynamic to every performance and help to keep us on our toes,” says Max. “Audiences may even meet some of the characters in the pub before the show to help the decision process, so make sure you arrive at least half an hour early!

“It is a nod to the choice culture in which we live, where audience is king. More importantly, though, it creates a relationship with the audience; for an audience to have met the characters and invested their time and energy into making a decision, the characters will mean that much more.”

EIGHT WAS AT THE ALMA TAVERN, BRISTOL FROM MON 28 MAR-SAT 2 APR. FOR REVIEW CLICK HERE. LEAVES OF GLASS WILL BE AT THE BREWERY, BRISTOL FROM 16-20 AUG. FFI: 0117 902 0344 OR WWW.TOBACOFACTORYTHEATRE.COM
 

Copyright Steve Wright 2011

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