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The Author? Confused, you may be
Tim Crouch believes in really bringing his play to the audience in The Author at The Door The Author The Door, Birmingham Rep ****
We are by nature, creatures of habit and if
there is one thing that most people expect when they enter a theatre
space, it's a rule book of some sort. So when there isn't one, the
initial result is confusion.
It's not the audiences fault.
Tim Crouch sets out from the start to destabalise. He's, the author of
`The Author ‘and the actor who plays himself, sort of, in a play about
another play in another theatre. Confused, well you might be and in the
first 10 minutes you feel invited to join in, scream out or hide quietly
under the seat. However like any controlled
experiment you need distance to observe it and that's exactly what you
are not permitted to have. No stage, no costumes, no set just two banks
of opposing tiered seating. You wonder if everyone's in the cast, maybe
they are, and that's the point Crouch is making. Its non setting is the Royal
Court Theatre Jerwood upstairs yet the fact an audience member called
out to remind the players that this was in fact The Door (Birmingham
Repertory Theatre) was a clear indication that a few
were just not getting it. THEMES AMD IMAGES You can't say this play's
themes are clear to understand as they lie in your own sensitivity to
the experience. It's a bit of a Russian doll, with each diminishing figure
painted in some pretty toxic paint. When at last the players are
all revealed, a level of security returns and you begin to understand
the relationships and start to lock onto the story. It presents you with
questions, perhaps too many at times, by leading you to imagine some
quite disturbing images.
The Author is an adult
divisive interrogation, resting at times on the effect of our own social
awkwardness than inspiring us to deeper thought, but that seems to come
after the event.
It's a ` Marmite' like
experience. Perhaps too strong to say you will either love or hate it,
but it's guaranteed that the flavour will last a long time after the
first bite and if you like your theatre with a tasty raw edge it's an
experience that should not be missed. Jeff Grant
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