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A muddled collection of ideas that, while showing promise, doesn’t quite achieve the desired effect. Summary
Rating
Ok
When you walk into the Etcetera Theatre, nestled amidst the bustle of Camden’s high street, you never quite know what awaits you. As the perfect breeding ground for new work, the venue offers actors an opportunity to share their personal projects and encourages audiences to take a chance on something fresh.
On this particular evening, the gathering audience has come to see Unwritten, a one man play created by Daniel Bapeck and, after a slightly delay in admission to the theatre, we are met with the sight of the actor’s figure, dressed in a white sweatsuit, slumped unmoving across a small desk. Honestly, I am often one to applaud the gutsiness of such an onstage start. It demands a willingness from the performer to embrace vulnerability and it is admittedly exciting as an audience member to be given the chance to study the minutiae of a character’s appearance before the play formally begins.
When it does, Unwritten opens with a striking mantra, repeated three time in stillness: “I can, I will, I must.” The line effectively reminds Bapeck’s audience of their own self-affirmations, struggles, and perhaps a reluctant resolve. It is followed by the first of a handful of monologues that are a standout part of the performance. Poetic and well-written, these speeches give the audience an insight into Bapeck’s struggle to “come of age” after he’s already “come of age”. This strong opening allows Bapeck to gain his audience’s interest early on. Yet, the subsequent developments in the play’s style and story left me puzzled.
The set is simple and the costuming basic, but multimedia cues abound. Told through a series of increasingly absurd vignettes, with a voiceover Boss serving as a sort of spirit guide, and a repeated video covering world events from the death of Princess Diana through to the COVID pandemic, the play often feels muddled and incoherent. The lack of storytelling clarity detracts from the overall experience of Bapeck’s journey as it soon becomes difficult to decipher what the play is truly hoping to convey.
Still, despite a confusing narrative and (maybe) some technical issues, the actor’s performance is commendable. Whether he’s engaging in a duel to the death over a game of Monopoly, conveying the daily grind of office life through movement, or spinning around on the floor, Bapeck is fully committed. Perhaps the work therefore would benefit from fewer voiceover characters and more of his poetic monologuing. The sheer number of sound, lighting, and video cues is impressive, but their cohesion within the play leaves much to be desired. And, in the end, after a journey of such intensity, Unwritten’s concluding revelation is poetic if not truly revelatory.
Written and performed by Daniel Bapeck
