Robinson: The Other Island Review
Chapter Arts Centre, Thu 9 May
***
There’s much to enjoy in this new production from the Cardiff-based collaborative group Give it a Name. Robinson: The Other Island is a bold and often startling re-imagining of Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe’s perennial masterpiece, currently celebrating its triennial year.
As with all of Give it a Name’s work, The Other Island is inventive and surprising; an immersive experience that manages to be part stage play, part radio play, part ASMR performance. The aural aspect of the performance receives particular emphasis; each audience member is given a set of headphones through which to listen to the show. This works well, creating an immediacy and intimacy as Bianca, our modern-day protagonist, reads passages from Crusoe’s novel in a hushed, almost bed-time story tone.
On the small stage at the centre of the theatre, Bianca, living in near-isolation, discovers the many treasures of the novel. Her reading of the novel is interjected with moments from her domestic life and her conversations with her father. Around the theatre, Defoe’s Crusoe prowls the theatre, attempting to survive his own isolation. Both central performances are strong and engaging; Bianca is charismatic, while Crusoe is brilliantly befuddled, his desperation palpable as the play reaches its end.
However, during some parts of the show not much is happening other than the novel being read aloud. The words may be very good; there’s a reason they’ve stood the test of time. But as a theatrical performance it can feel like a series of excerpts from an audio book, rather than a coherent piece of drama. There’s a lack of tension.
Robinson has been described as an ‘exploration of solitude and reading’, but it struggles to make its points clearly. As the final extract from Robinson Crusoe is read over gentle, moving music, it’s unclear what this play has explored in more depth than the book already had. One of its strengths is brevity. If you’ve been put off reading Robinson Crusoe because of its length, this play might be a good entrance point to the material, but you’ll be missing out on the cumulative beauty of the novel. Robinson: The Other Island is innovative, occasionally visceral, but a little dull.
Words Joshua Rees
Robinson: The Other Island is at Chapter until Sat 18 May. Tickets: £12/£10. Info: www.chapter.org