PERFORMANCE & COMEDY

Arnolfini, Bristol (Thur 3-Fri 4 Nov)

PERFORMANCE / LIVE ART The paradox of Schrödinger’s Cat: you put a cat in a box, with a radioactive source, some cyanide, and a Geiger counter connected to a hammer; after a given amount of time, the radioactive material may or may not have decomposed thereby triggering the counter that explodes the flask which kills the cat. But you can’t be certain this has taken place, as there is a 50-50 chance the radioactive material will have decomposed – the upshot of which is that, from a quantum perspective, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time. An example of reductio ad absurdum originally aimed to illustrate the implausibility of quantum theory, with philosophical ramifications that fascinate scholars, artists, and plebeians alike. Reckless Sleepers claim to have built this box: however in ‘Schrödinger’, the paradox is at best gestured toward, informing the piece on a purely aesthetic level rather than as an underlying principle to be explored.

The action takes place in a large box-like construction made of blackboard wood, its thick, hollow walls incorporating hatches and doors of all shapes and sizes. As the piece progresses, the cast are dropped, suspended and pushed into the box, get pulled or climb out of it, banging the hatches open and shut; props including tables, chairs, a satchel, apples and wine glasses also get swept in and out of the box, caught into the frenzy of the action. There are some visually stunning moments: when, for instance, two cast-members lean towards each other from opposite sides of the box, their heads shrouded in an obvious reference to Magritte’s 'Les Amants I & II', only to be pulled back apart and disappear behind perennially banging doors. The music accompanying the piece enhances the varying dimensions of the performance, in turns nostalgic, repetitive, frenetic and contemplative.

The performance does, however, leave you with the impression that the piece has widely missed its mark. Beyond its failure to incorporate Schrödinger’s Cat as anything more than a chalk drawing, ‘Schrödinger’ feels as though it has tried really hard to create an absurdist situation – in the school of Beckett, Genet, and Ionesco – but has only managed to create a cacophony of unrelated on-stage happenings that, oversaturated by absurdity, end up having little effect on the audience. ‘Schrödinger’ is like a Beckett play turned inside out: whereas in Beckett’s work not a great deal happens in the way of action and yet you feel that something significant and substantial has been communicated, ‘Schrödinger’ offers an almost unreasonable amount of action which nonetheless leaves you with not much to take away at all in the way of meaning.

The piece comes across as an attempt to emulate the great playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd which, perhaps not surprisingly, gives it a dated and tired feel; it is hard to shake the impression that ‘Schrödinger’ exhausts its subject matter within the first fifteen minutes of performance, which paradoxically, for a play during which so much happens, makes it somewhat tedious after a while. (Regina Papachlimitzou)

Copyright Regina Papachlimitzou 2011