Open Mind
Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Group: Theatre Trash

James Gledhill

Open Mind imagines a cyber-dystopia of loneliness and isolation in which technological dependence produces an atomised society bereft of face-to face human interaction. The central character finds himself at the mercy of his sinister employers, manipulated and confused and desperately trying to find out who he is and what's happening to him.

Imaginative use of video and sound effectively create an atmosphere of paranoia and authoritarian menace, and the performers set about their task with utter conviction. But the impression is given that the whole premise is simply there to provide a pre-emptive justification for the disjointed narrative and a series of overblown human confrontations which lack any intrinsic dramatic purpose. Unfortunately simply imbuing everything, however banal, with immense profundity cannot compensate for the lack of coherent content. On occasions the intensity of the performances tips over into an alienating and hectoring stridency.

The young cast have obvious commitment and imagination and their concern with a pessimistic sense of loss of agency or ability to comprehend the world taps straight in to contemporary concerns. But while ambiguity has obvious dramatic possibilities it's ultimately far less satisfying than an attempt to actually lead the audience through a coherent narrative with believable characters.

30 July to 24 August.

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