Hailed as "a complex, intense achievement in writing" by John Hodge (Screenwriter- 'Trainspotting', 'Shallow Grave'), Vignettes from an Inkblot Archipelago leaps off the page and straight into a performance which never ceases to engage the audience emotionally, intellectually and philosophically in a myriad of ever-inventive ways.
In Vignettes, the original and boundary-pushing play, we see two generations of one family struggle to move on from the burdens and trappings of grief, masculinity and hereditary trauma. Vignettes is a play of two halves: past and present, fever dream and reality, cause and effect. Vignettes is ultimately a human story about a person who wrestles with the burdens of the past – both that of his family and his own personal history. We watch the life of a man who refuses to leave their ‘cosy’ hometown unfold and disintegrate before us in snippets edited together by his own hands. We witness a coming-of-age story, a domestic tragedy and an intriguing mystery unravel themselves one after another. It’s charming, heart-breaking and terrifying in equal measure. Although not inspired by them, if Vignettes was a cross between two things they would be ‘All of Us Strangers’ and ‘Memento’.
Staging Vignettes felt like the most obvious way to grapple with pressing modern issues which have gone unnoticed in the 21st century. In an era where – through the photographs, videos and written words constantly at our fingertips- the past is ever-present, it is frighteningly easy for our relationship with it to turn toxic. The questions of how we arrange our past, how we act as our own biographers by deciding little things- like which photos to keep on our camera roll- will only weigh on our minds more as we get older and our pasts outweigh our futures. Handling such important human problems in the communal environment of a theatre seemed like the only appropriate way of doing things.
Vignettes is a massively ambitious show with its characters, narrative and most obviously its technical elements. Constantly weaving in projected footage and photography and making use of foley-infused, BBC Radio 4- reminiscent ‘tape recordings’ from the past, Vignettes makes full and adept use of all the tools on hand in modern theatre. Vignettes is a rare sort of show; it promises to be closer to a complete experience than a play as it truly is a holistic experience.
The climax of Vignettes offers a moment which is both cathartic and horrifying, fulfilling and devastating. Once all is revealed, an audience member will never be able to think of Vignettes in the same way. In tandem with this, there should be a perspective shift on those sitting around them as well. Vignettes ultimately serves as an exercise in empathy, peeling back the layers and taking a look at the human spirit in the hopes that we may all look at each other with more understanding and less suspicion. A fundamentally human piece, the play is made for us all.
Vignettes from an Inkblot Archipelago
Corpus Playroom
Tue 30 April - Sat 04 May 2024
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