Pie shop pathos and a punny thrill ride – it’s a hold-up!
Mr Red Light by Nightsong theatre company Circa Theatre, until March 8 Reviewed by Lindsey Rusling
From the award-winning Nightsong team of writer Carl Bland and director Ben Crowder (Te Po¯ , 360) comes Mr Red Light, a tragicomic play that is difficult to define in terms of genre.
From the absurd to the simple: the hilarity, pathos, tension, physical theatre and puns are abundant.
Joker’s pie shop is invaded by the gun-toting Mr Red Light, who takes the inhabitants hostage – Eva, an old lady (performed with depth and intensity by Jennifer Ludlam) who has lost the love of her life; a recalcitrant young woman (an aggressively vulnerable Jess Sayer); and the pie shop’s Employee of the Month (a genuine and flirtatious Richard Te Are).
Through flashbacks and montage, we learn about the captives’ lives (directed by their seemingly omniscient hostagetaker) and enjoy the rapport between captor and the voice of the incompetent hostage negotiator.
Trygve Wakenshaw plays the fraught Mr Red Light with incredible physicality. Lanky and flexible, Wakenshaw moves flawlessly from a reptilian stalker, obsequious French waiter to The
Thinker and it is his unexpected idiosyncrasies and reactions, reminiscent of the cringeinducing awkwardness of The Office’s David Brent, that bring guffaws of laughter from the appreciative crowd.
The play begins with the introduction of a stranger with a gun as a catalyst for change, but this production is so much more than that. Incorporating mime, wordplay, song, music, and slick and exciting fight choreography, it is a thrill ride from start to finish. Even the sections that include ‘‘the stillness, the silence and the emptiness’’ are fraught with tension over the possible destructive actions of Mr Red Light.
The incorporation of an ant (delivered with command by Simon Ferry) and his thoughts are an absurdist delight.
Andrew Foster’s set design is a stunningly detailed use of the space that underpins the action with creativity in a very familiar setting. It enables the performers to present with an awareness of the audience that creates a warm and empathetic relationship throughout.
Mr Red Light is bursting with magical, theatrical moments. The devil is in the detail and in this production, every single opportunity has been successfully capitalised upon.