Theatre
Collapse
St James Cavalier

It is interesting to see how the human psyche is so very powerful when it comes to protecting us from the terrible realities that happen around us and sadly, at times, to us directly.

Unifaun Theatre is presenting its second original play Collapse, currently doing its maiden run at Spazju Kreattiv. Under Dave Barton’s cogent and strong direction, Adrian Buckle’s new script may appear at times rather disjointed at first, with individually strong scenes which seem to have a tenuous connection, but this effect only adds to the play’s concluding and very cohesive point made in the final scene – where the previous events fall neatly into place as the character’s lives unravel in a downward spiral of anguish.

Greta (Whitney Ellis) infuses her reality with elements of a fantasy world populated by her vulnerable fiancé Robbie (Jeffrey Kieviet) who seems to have Asperger’s, and her colleague and friend, Stella (Ashley Allen).

Her apparently benevolent older brother Aaron (Bryan Jennings) is often called upon as a point of reference and advice for the young couple. Thus established, the four main characters in the play are set against a backdrop of stories steeped in folk and fairy tales, where the often darker, suppressed violence of human nature lies in wait, lurking beneath the surface of a twee and innocent plot, evident only in undertones of a ridiculously religious nature or those of sexual deviance.

Romualdo Moretti’s set design and Chris Gatt’s lighting created the right mood for these metafictive mind games which evolve from Greta as a means of safeguarding her from the terrible reality she so desperately wants to suppress.

Ellis masterfully and subtly changes her character stance based on the varying aspects of the three personae she plays: the fairy tale princess, the Greta she inhabits in the world of her own making and the Greta stripped bare to the horrid reality she exists in with her brother Aaron.

The four main characters in the play are set against a backdrop of stories

Allen shifts brilliantly from benevolent Holy Mother, protector of Kieviet’s fairy tale Frog Prince, to bold, sensuous and dangerous Stella in Greta’s world. Her treatment of Kieviet’s Robbie varies from kindness to stern punishment as his innocence is lost when he disobeys her, falling from grace and banished to the world of mortals, later transmuting from Frog Prince to Greta’s fiancé.

Jeffrey Kieviet, Ashley Allen and Bryan Jennings in Collapse.Jeffrey Kieviet, Ashley Allen and Bryan Jennings in Collapse.

Kieviet himself portrays confused innocence and reluctant guilt very well and his violation after his arrival in the world of men denounces the hypocrisy of the power wielded by those we trust with our well-being.

Later we realise that he is not the only one to be harmed, and that Greta uses her imagined position as his caring protector to mitigate the pain and horror she feels at her own systematic abuse.

Essentially good, Greta becomes a victim of her trust in others and attempts to suppress her torment by making Robbie her cause.

Jennings’ calm and insidious Aaron, who in Christian tradition led the Jews into safety, goes against his mythological nature and looms as a dark spectre over all. His horrific mistreatment of Greta proves Friar Lawrence’s strongest line in Shakespeare’s tragedy of doomed love: “These violent delights have violent ends.”

Collapse makes for some very thought-provoking theatre and while the resolution in the final scene is crucial to our understanding of the play’s development, it is well-paced in its dynamics and gripping in its delivery.

It isn’t light entertainment, but serious criticism and aims to open our eyes to the realities we tend to ignore. It is certainly a show to look out for if you’re in need of a wake-up call.

Collapse is being staged at St James Cavalier, Valletta today, tomorrow and Sunday and on March 2, 3 and 4 at 8pm.

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