Kroetz’s understated, unnerving monodrama is tinged with a subtle Swedish tint in this fixating, hypnotic performance. A woman goes about her nightly routine in a sterile, compartmentalised, and meticulously clean apartment. Initial voyeurism creeps towards melancholic realisation, with the gradual accumulation of detail brought about by Nilsson’s nuanced, highly sensitive physical performance. The single teacup; the photo of a dog on the bedside table; dinner for one – all these intricacies progress towards a conclusion in which the fourth wall never feels more concrete. Her silence is met with an equal – almost complicit – silence as, watched by a room full of people, she remains inescapably alone. A stand-out performance as intimate as it is alienating. See it. Be moved.

Pleasance On Cranston Street, 4 – 27 Aug (not 7, 8, 15, 22), times vary, £10.00 – £12.00, fpp292.
tw rating 5/5
[jlb]

Sections: by Jessica Ballance - ED2011 Theatre Reviews - tw rating 5/5 | Tags: SIRIS Original Theatre, The Pleasance

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