X by Alistair McDowall, Barons Court Theatre London Review
Written by Stacy for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.
Themes of suicide, offensive language, strobe lighting and haze.
X is a play that can mean ‘anything you want it to’. Set onboard a space station on Pluto, we watch as the marooned crew become bored, tired and helpless. Why have they been abandoned while on their mission? We – and the crew – have no idea what time it is or how long they have been in space for as tensions rise, reality crumbles and illnesses are succumbed to. We are introduced to the four occupants of the station – Gilda, Cole, Ray and Clark – and soon realise there may some more ghostly goings on in the machine.
Originally performed in 2016 at the Royal Court Theatre, X has returned to London and transformed Barons Court Theatre into a space station for a short time only. The small theatre added to the feeling of claustrophobia on board in a way that I feel would be difficult to portray on a bigger stage. The basis of X is that the connection with home has been severed, with the crew feeling like they’ve been abandoned and left to die while they drift into space.
Gilda, played by Rhiannon Carr, is our central character, the captain who holds it all together, as she slowly loses her grip on reality. The crew reflects on the destruction of planet Earth, which is seemingly seeping out into the wider solar system too. Time is played with, with the scenes not happening in chronological order, just to add to the frantic feel of it all.
The cast is great, with good performances all around. Stand out for me was Rhiannon Carr, whose final scene with Mattie (Joanna Mills) was probably the best moment, a I did enjoy the use of sound also, with a constant hum acting as a reminder of our setting in outer space. Lighting is kept simple - no need to over egg things – with blackouts signalling a change in time.
Whilst I get and understand the concept of X, it just didn’t quite resonate with me. I feel like X could have been so much more, given that there is certainly a lot that you can get your teeth into. Not by any means a terrible show, and others are bound to love it, but there was something just missing for me which put me on the more disappointed end of the scale. Fair enough only alluding to aspects and not spelling out every last detail, but I really did just feel like there was a missing piece from this jigsaw.
There is no doubting the talent of the cast, who worked with what they had, but overall things just didn’t click into place while watching X. X has the potential to be something brilliant, but it just wasn’t there for me. One thing is for sure, this is a show that will certainly divide audiences.
★ ★
