Metro.Boulot.Dodo, GAG, a nasty piece of work

Review in Issue 14-1 | Spring 2002

Stage right a gauze cube, back-lit, represents the cell. Upstage, four shiny alloy bar stools upon which perch four young adults, their backs to the audience. Above their heads three TV screens and beneath these a sound system. Stage left a lectern.

The first monologue begins with the fractured testimony of a confused hostage, then becomes the unintelligible ramblings of an Oxford don before rising to a crescendo of Wagnerian myth. Between their monologues they perform rhythmic movement to modern dance music while clutching empty glass bottles. These slick and well-rehearsed performances cleverly create a monotony of action and rambling discourse which achieves such a level of banality that, in order to continue to focus my attention on the performance, I was left with a stark choice: either I would have to gnaw off my limbs to avoid screaming or I would have to attempt to divine a meaning within this work of art.

These are the nurtured, educated professionals of the modem Western world, aggressively assertive and purposeful. But underneath their arrogant defensive psychology they yearn for the romantic and mysterious heroes of Wagnerian myth.

A figure, obviously from a previous generation, is confined to a cell within the TV screen. This pathetic bound figure represents the rejection of the paternalistic values of the past by a brave new generation, who by questioning everything demonstrate that they know nothing.

Presenting Artists
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Dec 2001

This article in the magazine

Issue 14-1
p. 29