FOR A BETTER WORLD
Director Daisy Noyes admits For a Better World is not, “well made,” in the program notes. The admission is candid and necessary. Originally a radio play, translated from Roland Schimmelpfennig’s original German, it is a messy, visceral ride that careens between life and death impulses, fantasies of sex, violence and aliens and the ubiquitous desire to play – both in life and on stage. Seven angry soldiers (of both sexes) in Africa go crazy. After that vaguely understandable set-up of humanity in the face of chaotic, meaningless war, both rank and file go nuts. They are all scared to death that aliens might visit their dystopia, and this somehow hurdles into mythical metaphor. Or does it? This production straddles the line between weird and just too weird, but it is engaging, provoking and absurd in a good way. If man-eating, tentacled beings from space are not your thing, steer clear. Otherwise, look forward to gun-wielding women in bikini tops and guys wearing raincoats and little else.
Until Jan 29, SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross, $26-30, 9332-1052, griffintheatre.com.au
BY OLGA AZAR
