Adelaide Festival

Festival Review: Deluge

Deluge provides a snapshot of some of the most controversial and relevant discussion topics of our time, through five plays running simultaneously.

Presented by Tiny Bricks in Association with Brink Productions and Adelaide Festival of Arts
Reviewed 8 March 2016

Most of us feel at some stage that we are struggling with an overload of information. The Internet and Social Media have greatly increased our access to news and knowledge. Problems we never knew existed now feature in our lives on an hourly basis. This media can be twisted and manipulated to control how we feel and how we react and it can be exhausting.

Deluge provides a snapshot of some of the most controversial and relevant discussion topics of our time including love, religion, politics, sexuality, war and online trolling, through five plays running simultaneously.

The overlapping and very contemporary stories create a fast paced and thoroughly engaging experience, where the plots intentionally become a little lost, particularly if an actor spends the entire play with their back to you which is the case, no matter where you choose to sit.

The playful and unusual set by Elizabeth Gadsby consists of a very large tub of foam bricks in which the cast are submerged. This creates a space in which the actors can pop in and out of the action quickly and effectively. The foam bricks also make excellent props and can also be used to create the sensation of floating or drowning.

Lighting design by Chris Petridis creates the right ambience with stark white lighting and electronic pulses and the soundtrack composed by Will Spartalis perfectly complements the setting and action.

Written by Phillip Kavanagh and Directed by Nescha Jelk, Deluge captures the sense of the overload of important information that is now available to us; and the overwhelming feeling that so much is happening around us that we sometimes feel like we are drowning. This is a play which future generations might look back on and gain an understanding of what it was like to be alive in 2016.

The original cast who workshopped Deluge consisted of 10 students from Flinders University Drama School. Many are still with this production for its first run in the Adelaide Festival. Standouts include Andrew Thomas, Antoine Jelk, James Smith, Lucy Lehmann, Rebecca Mayo and Stuart Fong.

This is a well-conceived production, the only significant negative being Plant 1 as a selection of venue for a play in summer. Even on a mild night the venue is humid and uncomfortable, detracting from an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Reviewed by Ceri Horner
Twitter: @CeriHorner

Venue: Plant 1 Bowden
Season: Until March 13
Duration: 45mins
Tickets: $25-$39
Bookings: http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/2016/theatre/Deluge

 

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