Review- BEEP- Black Sheep Theatre
20-11-15
By: Cindy Kim
As a millennial, I often get the short end of the stick when it comes to people posing questions such as “Has technology gone too far in Hong Kong?” which is a question asked in BEEP, a devised production by Black Sheep Theatre. I was especially impressed with the way that this production was created from the ground up, as this entire play is a result of the entire cast collaboratively exploring the directorial potential of a single word – Beep.
It is admirable what black sheep theatre is trying to do here, and BEEP manages to do a fine job of exploring the issues raised around technology without becoming overly preachy, ranging from online dating to “Bring Your Own Phone” policies at companies in a manner which is entertaining and humorous from time to time.
This performance was located in Hang Seng industrial building in Kwun Tong, which I found only through the use of Google Maps on my smartphone. Well aware of the ironies of this action, nothing struck me more significantly than the realization that although Beep indulged in some pre-show atmospherics by having Daniel Felix-Johnson as Teddi Lui take selfies with the audience in character, I don’t think some audience members even noticed him wandering around the seats as they were too busy looking at their smartphones.
As a very small stage, the set was very bare bones – more of the space was taken up by the audience than that of the performance area. Although it does create a more intimate atmosphere, I noticed actors tripping into chairs and sofa legs. However, there was an imaginative use of set in the opening, such as a moment where Teddi Lui flings his blanket and pillows over the door walls in his rush to get to work, which cleared away the props on the floor in a fairly seamless and entertaining manner.
Pop electronic music is a reoccurring theme throughout the whole play, playing during transitions and non-verbal sequences, which certainly fits into the modern era theming. Riffs of well-known ubiquitous phone tunes anyone would recognize are utilized and enhance the performance. However there were several issues with sound, especially enhanced in a space this small. During Eimear Burn’s musical number, she was singing with a space much larger than this in mind. While enormously talented, the space of the room was not able to contain the volume of the singing.
Aside from an unexpected swordfight with umbrellas in the beginning of the play, BEEP doesn’t quite reach for a high level of emotional intensity, but instead settles for being an everyday reflection of daily life. It contains very diverse scenarios, exploring a range of different aspects of Hong Kong life in their relation to technology. There was a scene in which the modern go-getting young businesswoman accidentally destroys an old woman’s pocket watch; the last memento of her husband, the deceased creator of the floppy disk. If that isn’t a metaphor I don’t know what is. However she manages to find a replacement part in seconds using google, which does an admirable job of showing the issue of technology as not very clear cut.
There are certainly moments of humor here and there, such as when the above-mentioned businesswoman Chloe Vults (as played by Malavika Shanker) seeing Teddi Lui dip his top-of-the-line cellphone in his coffee, fishes out a ziplock bag filled with rice out of her purse; apparently for occasions just like this. The humor works most of the time, but overly long and stereotypical gags (such as people no longer being able to read maps with the invention of Google Street view) falls flat.
This play ends up a sentimental reflection of Hong Kong’s use of technology – “Maybe age doesn’t really matter after all.” Benedithe (as played by Eimear Burns) reflects, “Technology grows up faster than people do.” Although the play ends with a monologue encouraging the audience to “look up” from their smartphones once in a while, the holistic view adopted throughout the play makes it a palatable one.
BEEP is playing at Theatre Pi through Saturday. For more information, click here.
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