2 stars
ELLIPSIS is a production with an identity crisis that dithered between surreal farce, straight-laced comedy and the suggestion of philosophical introspection.
Set in the apartment of siblings Terry [1] and Terry [2], it is immediately clear that time doesn’t flow in their world in the usual, predictable way. The Terrys, however, are comfortable with the logic of their lives.
Image courtesy of Jordan Baynes
The Terrys’ world is changed when Jay ‘falls from the sky’ (a concept that is obliquely explained later in the show) and Terry [1]—as a loose approximation of a paramedic—brings him back to their apartment to recuperate. Once awake, Jay finds the two Terrys peculiar and often literal ways of speaking and thinking difficult to parse. The interactions of Jay and the bewildering Terrys are further compounded when a second man, Garrett, also falls from the sky and into their lives.
The construction of the apartment and use of space on stage worked well to build the imaginary world. However, the multitude of scene changes, that saw actors exiting the stage with questionable finesse, broke the immersion of the audience with the world they were working to construct.
Terry [2]’s performance was an appealing portrayal of an innocent and guileless character who accepted the world around her without question. The actor who played Jay did well under difficult circumstances, following, what was presumably, a last minute cast change. The other performances, however, felt underprepared with the excessively fast and verbose dialogue difficult to make out.
There were tantalising glimpses of potential in ELLIPSIS. Some jokes elicited appreciative laughter from the audience and the romantic scene where ‘opposites attract’ was genuinely sweet and funny. In some moments the audience could almost grasp the meaning, the larger message ELLIPSIS had to offer, only to have it slip through their fingers again in a baffling and non-sensical jumble of speech and farce.
ELLIPSIS was a show that had all the promise of an absurd and mind-bending experience but sadly missed the mark. Reminiscent of Salvador Dali, Franz Kafka, Monty Python and maybe even a dash of The Naked Gun, ELLPSIS skirted the fringes of these offbeat greats without settling into its own rhythm.
SUZANNE MOORE