© N.MARTINEZ

Optraken
London International Mime Festival

5
Reviewer's Rating

While waiting for the play to start, I was looking at the stage, noticing the amount of props hanging from the ceiling. These props would eventually all come crashing down onto the stage in varying inventive ways, mainly missing the actors by mere inches.

The play opens in a very clever way, which links perfectly to the rest of the play, by using three large boards, moving simultaneously around the stage to create a comical effect of disappearing and reappearing characters. This is also a very interesting way to introduce the performers, as through the disappearing and reappearing figures, we gradually build up a picture of the different people on stage. A turning point is when the performer with an afro shakes his hair and firecrackers come flying out of his hair, popping when heating the ground.

After this sequence, the play becomes more and more unpredictable and inventive, with gunshot sounds, fire and smoke, glitter rain. A paint fight ensues, followed by a frantic dance; a man hangs upside down from the ceiling; another struggles with an extremely long rope. Heavy bags start thudding onto the stage, much to the worry of the audience, which gasps as the bags skim the actors’ heads, only closely avoided through crazy acrobatics. In this hostile environment, danger is everywhere, and the performers battle fiercely for survival.

The entire play was quite random at times, and was quite difficult to understand, but as a whole, it was full of surprises and extremely entertaining, well put together and very slick in its transitions and scene changes. The audience just loved it!