Star rating: ****
The director and star of Vanishing Point's outstanding Fringe show Subway, Matthew Lenton and Sandy Grierson, have re-teamed to co-direct this audacious RSAMD production. A thrilling devised work involving a cast of 20, HIDDEN comprises two parts performed simultaneously in neighbouring spaces. Each is performed twice nightly, and audience members don't discover which they'll see first - Escape or Home - until they hand over their tickets.
It might sound gimmicky, but by the end it makes perfect sense. At any point in the narrative two, three or even four scenes may be unfolding, and only once each perspective has been viewed does the full story come into focus.
An armed gang has taken hostages in a branch of Boots. Having released a few, they've carelessly lost a couple more, so in an attempt to lure them back they arrange (what else?) a TV appeal. What follows is a surreal look at the manipulating power of the media, the danger of public hysteria and the muddle that is modern attitudes to sex, children, faith and duty.
It's a complex morality tale into which celebrity, disability and viability are deftly woven to create an alternate reality that is both bizarre and disturbingly familiar to anyone who reads newspapers or watches TV news coverage. It's also a near-the-knuckle comedy that coaxes audience members out of their comfort zones then gives them a good shake.
Though HIDDEN shares a sense of dystopian doom with Subway, it's an altogether different kind of production. Its devised origins are clear: a couple of the weaker characters feel extraneous and Home (Part II) has an unfinished feel, but there are also some beautifully-judged scenes and the whole daring exercise is guaranteed to leave brains buzzing.
It's telling that the work's inspirations include films, novels and news stories, as opposed to classic plays or ancient myths. The resulting production has a compelling sense of immediacy and a similar anarchic spirit to the work of Anthony Neilson. Wherever this creative partnership goes next, a faithful audience is sure to follow.
Until Saturday.
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