Theatre / Reviews
Review: The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much, Tobacco Factory Theatres – ‘An extraordinary accomplishment’
From what is theatre composed? Some typically requisite elements might include actors, a story, a stage and an audience. Yesterday evening Tobacco Factory Theatres played host to Voloz Collective’s The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much, a show which answers that question with another: where, precisely, does a story occur? Allow me to elaborate.
Alongside and perhaps atop the required components for theatre sits the audience’s suspension of disbelief. That is, their willingness to be told a story. We the audience know we are not in fact in Verona, or Salem, and would have a pretty dull evening if we clung to that remembrance. Theatre is a slow forgetting.
Where, then, does a story actually reside? In the plot, or in its telling? This matters because it says something about the relative role and responsibility of each party. Some theatre – perhaps more the traditional, scripted variety – claims the story very much for its own. We the audience sit back and allow a story to be draped over us. All the translation from the plot to its telling has taken place in the rehearsal room. At the exact opposite end of the spectrum, we have Voloz Collective.
is needed now More than ever
The great genius of this show is its sparsity. Rather than telling us a story, Voloz encourage us to tell ourselves a story. The physical capability of this Lecoq-trained cast is literally stunning. But physical theatre of this kind still demands a greater suspension of disbelief than is customary. In this sense, the story occurs in whatever throughline the audience derives from an imagistic montage. The show is a suggestion.
Much like haiku can inspire more, not less, creativity, the constraints imposed by the sparsity of this show (essentially no set, almost no props) have ignited a towering degree of inventiveness amongst the company. They are by turns a train window and a tumbleweed.
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Roger (Paul Lofferon) is a Frenchman in 1960s New York whose farcical encounter with a cup of coffee ensures his narrow survival from a nearby explosion, and embroils him in the real-world drama of November 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Lofferon is superb. His discipline and craftsmanship is staggering. Roger pursues around the world a gaggle of cartoonishly Russian villains, fronted by Olivia Zerphy.
Zerphy, too, is extraordinary. As the mysterious lady in the red hat, she is utterly captivating and alluring. Emily Wheatman is Paul’s ridiculous colleague, a brilliant comedy role which again is performed incredibly well. Wheatman’s is a magnetic and compelling presence. Completing the absurd posse of Russian villains is Alexander Burnett, a debutant to the show. Burnett’s accent, acting and physical skill is fantastic.
The final person on stage is Jonny Venvell, who scores the show with live keyboard, drums, guitar and whistling – often simultaneously. Venvell is a seriously able musician; his primary instrument is the drums, but his piano playing – particularly of the melody notes with his right hand – is gorgeous.
Voloz operates as a non-hierarchical collective. The cast devise, perform and direct the show. The lack of an external director surprised me tremendously. Oftentimes, in my experience, this setup leads to a slightly indulgent and careless piece. But this work is fast-paced, tight, and never loses momentum. For all of its anarchic eagerness, the show is dramaturgically very neat.
The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much is an impossible show – stripped-bare yet vibrant; miniscule in scale but gargantuan in scope. Voloz is fluent in theatre. That this is their debut show is a bafflement – its economy and playfulness will stay with me. And I will be first in line for whatever they do next.
The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much is at Tobacco Factory Theatres on April 26-28 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com.
Main photo: Voloz Collective
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