Review-The Loneliest Whale-Paean Productions
12-6-14
By: Stephanie Ip
At one point during The Loneliest Whale, director and actor Victoria Allington tells her co-actor Tiff Chan to “look happier” for a photo she wants to share online, to show everyone how happy they are. They take a selfie, shouting “happy, happy, happy!”
They reminisce over days past, when they would have brunch and a lark with their old school chums. These days, living on an island surrounded by water, they hold Skype dates and look at other people’s profile pages. Chan has met a guy online who has asked to marry her. She sighs “he always looks so happy and confident on Facebook” and then wonders if he’s the same in real life.
In another scene, they decide to host a real life party and invite real people over, complete with facebook invites, online polling and Instagram teasers. But later Chan’s nerves get the better of her and she asks Allington to rehearse meeting people with her.
These scenes would have been downright funny if they didn’t strike so close to our hearts. Who can really say they’re not guilty of crafting their personal lives online with the use of Facebook, making out that they’re happier than they really are? Who hasn’t replaced Sunday family lunches with a Skype call to their mothers? Who hasn’t been to a social gathering and felt tremendously awkward, finding it easier to retreat into their cellphones to send an email, check Whatsapp or compose a tweet?
The title of the play was derived from an article which Allington read, about a whale that scientists had tracked down, which sung at a frequency higher than any other whale, but in all its life had never managed to come into physical contact with another whale. Humans, Allington found, were quite similar. We call out to others via technology for attention but we are more isolated than ever before.
Allington may have written a simple script about two friends inviting people to a party, and adorned her stage with just a few props, but her message is a strong one. Black box theatre works here - there are no distractions, no special effects, just pure storytelling and a compelling message.
Both actors were excellent, giving their roles just the right amount of humour and making their insecurities relatable. The dances, tribal and bizarre at times, worked well with the scenes and I enjoyed the poignancy Allington brought to the piece with her singing.
One small complaint I have is the make-up - for aesthetic reasons, I’d rather see one person’s take on warpaint, rather than six faces with six styles depending on which cast member did whose face.
All said and done, this was a thoroughly enjoyable play which left me contemplating the side effects of technology and the pros of getting a tech detox. That said, this doesn’t mean we won’t be “happy, happy, happy!” if you like us, tweet us, or leave us a comment below.
The Loneliest Whale is playing at the JCCAC in Shek Kip Mei through the 15th. For more information, click here.
Comments
Errrin
The concept and overall idea for the show was really interesting but I felt that the show was really poorly executed when it came to the dialogue (it was very contrived) and the technical elements. Sometimes a message is better received with a light hand rather than a hammer.
12 June 2014Adam Walker
I was interested to enter the space at the JCCAC in She Kip Mei to see independent work created by young people. The black box theatre is a great space to have available and both the lighting and sound equipment are excellent. Settling into this performance, i had high expectations of what The Loneliest Whale would be.
12 June 2014
The piece began with some interesting and developed Grotowski inspired physical movement which connected voice, ritual, movement and the idea of group and self - what i perceived to be the message of the play from the promotional materials. If the piece had continued in this style, i would have been impressed with the work created. However, it quickly dissolved into a misguided, fractured, immature and shapeless piece that showcased the two key performers, and left other in the shadows.
We quickly meet two characters, (played by director Vicky Allington and movement director Tiff Chan) who inhabit a hinted at dystopian future in which all members of society are only connected via social media and crave human social interaction. There is an attempt here at a Theatre of the Absurd situation where we have two nameless characters (calling each other only ’Friend’) existing in a hopeless situation. However, the two characters feel underdeveloped; they have affectations of a Wildian delivery making the setting of the play even more disjointed as they allude to past times with happy English school chums (all who conversely have names straight out of The Famous 5) this is completely unsuited to the concept of the dystopia. Sloppy writing leads to strands of a plot that allude to a wedding, a party, Christmas, visiting friends and friends basically deciding to abandon one set of friends for another, all of which are never tied together in a satisfactory manner and linked back to the concept.
This one over long scene that is played out has regular intervals of ‘the physical theatre parts’ which apart from being heavy in obvious metaphor, are distracting and do not add anything to the message of the play. This can also be said of the scene in which one of the characters starts singing for no apparent reason apart from the fact that she has a lovely voice.
All characters are in hair and makeup that frankly makes them look like members of Kiss - something that doesn’t ever add to the pathos of the piece. The lighting was dealt with sensitively and some effects were very strong. The group were, however, let down by the jerkiness of the sound control.
I expected better than what was sold to me through the programme and promotional materials (with the director and movement director both being professionally trained) and I feel that although the concept was strong, it was not explored well which led to a very clunky production. The whole evening smacked of a rushed work created to feed an ego and i have seen better structured work from secondary school students, except i have never paid $150 for an hour of student performance. If this is, as I have heard it described as, what counts as ‘deep theatre’, Hong Kong is definitely in the shallow end with it’s arm bands on.
Lauren Bennett
With very little expectations I entered the black box of JCCAC quite skeptical. I feared it would be your typical adolescent theatre student production, full of misplaced depth and laughable attempts at insight and metaphor. I am very happy to say it was nothing like this. Director Vicky Allington along with the small ensemble cast has created a piece of revolutionary theatre; dystopian but not easily brushed aside as fantasy or science fiction. The issues this production deals with are very real, the impending doom of a society dependent on technology, constant communication but no real connection. Beautifully interwoven are scenes between the two central characters, and physical theatre based ensemble moments. Allington cleverly draws the audience into the nuances of the two "Friend" characters and then abruptly jolts them into incredibly powerful, and effectively uncomfortable, ensemble diversion. The captivating storyline was enough to have me sold, but the motifs that caused me to pause and think made this a piece of theatre that is not only entertaining, but cathartic. It is every theatre devisors dream to be able to influence an audience, to make them feel something deeper, to change something within them. Allington and her cast have achieved that. I was first emotionally affected by the idea that "typing time" hinders our ability to make conversation spontaneously, terrified quite frankly of how mechanical we have become, an extension of our own technology. I don't want to spoil the ending, but it had me on the verge of tears due to its rawness. Overall "The Loneliest Whale" exceeded all my expectations, a powerful and beautifully crafted piece of theatre. Definitely as must see if you can make time this week, and Victoria Allington is certainly one to watch out for with her innovative and thought provoking work.
12 June 2014