Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

In the programme’s Author’s Note, Unifaun founder Adrian Buckle acknowledges the strong influence of the brothers Grimm’s fairy tales on his sophomore play Collapse,  staged by Unifaun Theatre Productions at Spazju Kreattiv. The Grimms’ fairy tales were built around a collection of oral folk tales and they were initially much criticised, as they were not considered to be suitable for children due to some of the subject matters covered, namely sex and violence.

Sex and violence are two central motifs that link Buckle’s latest play with his debut offering, Unintended, staged in the same space a year ago. Set primarily inside an apartment, in an undefined location where a violent conflict is raging in the streets, a young woman by the name of Greta (Whitney Ellis) is holed up with her boyfriend Robbie (Jeffrey Kieviet).

Greta, is a somewhat naive character that is clearly still suffering from a damaged past, despite her outwardly calm demeanour. Robbie, on the other hand, shows clear signs of a disturbed mind and social inadequacy.

Greta’s brother, Aaron is a regular visitor to the apartment. He plays the part of the protective, older brother to Greta and tries in vain to convince her that Robbie “cannot give her what she needs”.

Another visitor to the apartment is Stella (Ashley Allen) a close friend of Greta and Aaron’s who seeks refuge in the apartment while fleeing from the chaos reigning outside. Hers is clearly the most complex character, and turns out to be the catalyst for the ensuing chaos that consumes the play’s characters within the four walls of the apartment.

By using the fairy-tale device as his ‘centre’, Buckle has created a very strong narrative, one that he juxtaposes very skilfully with a number of biblical and religious motifs. I would have liked to see this interplay between the sacred and the profane taken further than attempted.

One interesting idea was that of using the same actress to play both the Virgin Mary and the ‘evil’ seductress. This Madonna-whore complex could have led to a deeper exploration of the relationship between love and sex that Buckle references in the programme.

What made this intriguing script resonate, however, was the clarity provided by the direction of Dave Barton (his best work locally since Attempts on Her Life). Barton chose to work with a talented quartet of actors in the US prior to bringing them over for the final technical rehearsals.

The four actors were all very well cast and each gave very strong performances. Barton adds a deft surreal touch to the script and, by bringing out the child in each character, the idea of using the fairy tale device works a treat.

Just as he had done in Attempts on Her Life a couple of years ago, Barton also uses the tricky space at St James Cavalier to the full by making excellent use of the balcony and the alcove below it as ancillary acting spaces.

Equally vital was the strong coherence of the visual elements courtesy of Romualdo Moretti (for the set), Nicole Cuschieri (for the costumes), Anthony Catania (for the artwork) and Chris Gatt (for the lighting). The close attention to detail and the bold use of a very limited and deliberate palette of black and red gave the whole production a strong sense of place that focused the audience’s attention on the essential elements.

The only weakness I felt was in the sound design, where the evocation of the mood outside the apartment failed to create the sense of dread that was referenced in the script.

With Collapse, Buckle seems to be finally finding his voice. He has toned down his earlier penchant for the shocking and provocative and channelled his passion and anger into a well-balanced and ultimately gripping script.

While wearing his references a little bit too obviously on his sleeve, he is slowly but steadily honing his scriptwriting skills and establishing himself as a unique and very valid contributor to the very limited pool of local playwrights. I look forward to his next project.