theatre

It’s a satire, it’s a comedy, it’s a tragedy! No, it’s Micro-Nuance’s hour-and-change long show Atlantis, featuring Veronica Clavijo, Jimmy Hazelwood, and Sylvia Marie. Tucked into the cozy underground of KXT’s rehearsal space, ‘The Vault,’ the audience was immediately met with this piece’s attempt at trying something new. Mico-Nuance boasts their preferences for low-tech, low-budget shows in unconventional spaces, which presents an interesting test for a director. Although I am in complete agreement that shows don’t need to be flashy to be impressive, I do believe in justifying why the space is unconventional, and why the show doesn’t experiment with lighting and sound. Further, with the seating bank laid out in an L shape, they gave themselves another hurdle to clear. Thus, a multi-faceted challenge was set, met by, maybe, an overconfident team.

Walking into the space, the sounds of a strumming acoustic guitar filled the room. A classic and romantic workaround for non-existent sound systems, my interest was drawn to the usage of live sound in the piece. I was confused then, upon Marie’s direct address to the audience explaining who everyone would be playing, that she took the guitar off of Hazelwood. This removed one of the two opportunities for non-voiced sound in the room whilst posing slightly odd questions about the opening of the piece. I am all for actors being in the space with the audience before the start of the piece, it can be a highly effective way of drawing the audience’s attention, and creating that beautiful nervous-excited tension for an actor that propels them into action when lights go up. However, if, as was evident from the audience address, the actors on stage with us are not in character, and are relaxing or chatting, it denies them precious moments of preparation pre-show. This tends to manifest in the actors taking costly minutes of legitimate performance time to warm into their characters; something that should’ve been done backstage.

The piece did open well: snappy, fast-paced dialogue in a script that quickly developed characterisation. Both characters indeed took time to warm into the piece, however Clavijo and Hazelwood had great chemistry and effectively set up a believable relationship. That all too familiar story of lovers in theatre, where you’re somewhat left asking, “what do they see in each other?”

Clavijo was a strong performer, especially through the top half of the piece. Expressive, emotive, and actively experiencing her situation; we watched every thought move behind her eyes before she spoke and felt it. Hazelwood similarly opened well, and was a compelling counter-weight in his lightness and comedy to Clavijo’s cynicism. Their voices filled the space, and were initially experimental with pitch and rhythm. Although both were slightly demonstrative in their emotions and vocal work, this was not a trap they would fall properly into until later in the piece. Marie, who we saw later, presented a youthfully naive portrayal of the Byron Bay auntie, although I would’ve liked to see some clearer character choices from her throughout.

As a worshipper of such experts of timing as Pinter and Kushner, I cannot stop myself from noticing the rhythm of the piece. Atlantis was, perhaps well-summed up in the phrase “run don’t walk” in its commitment to a full bodied sprint to the finish line. Although this was perhaps to keep the full runtime short and sweet, it left both moments of grief and comedy with inadequate breathing room. Scattered throughout the piece were moments where both the script and delivery of a moment was genuinely funny. Yet, we as the audience weren’t given time to laugh or feel, and neither were the actors on stage given the time to hold the moment long enough to make it really land. Furthermore, in this prioritization of speed, there weren’t those delicious moments of discomfort and anxiety that sell a naturalist piece like this. Its ending was characterized by explosive moments of grief, guilt, and anger, all performed engagingly, yet, without the slow buildup of stakes, they almost felt unearned. This was aggravated by the script’s own rapid gearshifts, the ending being the most significant one. After finally ramping up their performances and taking accountability within the narrative, the piece abruptly and rather vexingly ends, denying any real catharsis for the audience.

That being said, all three actors made plenty of interesting and engaging choices, despite their commitment and emotional believability dipping in the back half. Although I’m not quite sure what the overall argument of the piece was, they touched on plenty of interesting ideas — cultural appropriation, the circumstances that drive people into both faith and crime, and how much of the things we tell ourselves we really believe. I empathise with new scripts and tight budgets, and I very much enjoyed the moments of emotional vulnerability and truth that we got. Through the top half, the text and acting was genuinely interesting and engaging, and the strong moments of physical and emotional commitments were tasteful but impressive. I look forward to seeing the future of Micro-Nuance and the work they create, even if this attempt leaves a little to be desired.

Edited by Raven Carlton

To book tickets to Atlantis, please visit https://www.subtlenuance.com/atlantis.

Photographer: Syl Marie Photography

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