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Four individuals intertwined with one another through either fate or logic, in a world which demands more of their attention than they can offer.Summary
Rating
Good
Penelope Skinner is known for her plays about women, often having women as the lead characters. Skinner’s female characters are often deeply rooted in feminist ideals, and are often subject to the limitations of a patriarchal society. But Eigengrau is a bit different, because there are four main characters: two women and two men, whose lives are interwoven over a short period of time.
This amateur production of Eigengrau is set in present day London, and begins with Cassie (Sophia Pettit), a headstrong, career driven feminist. She meets Mark (Niall O’Mara) during an awkward moment after Mark has slept with Cassie’s flatmate Rose (Phoebe Jones), who is a firm believer in all aspects of New Age ideals, but is also penniless. Mark has a very comfortable income of 80K a year working in marketing, whereas Mark’s flatmate Tim (Finn Elliot) works at a fast food chain. As a black comedy, Eigengrau is filled with witty dialogue, and characters whose lives take drastic turns in the short amount of time that they are seen.
In this production, the stories of the four characters intermingle between moments where the foursome interact on stage and those where they appear on film, projected to the rear. On the stage, the outside world is left to the imagination of the audience. However, when it becomes actually shown during the filmed sections, then a form of realism is introduced which unfortunately subtracts from everything the live performance tries to convey. On stage no single person stands out more than another, but in the filmed sequences Mark, Tim and Rose excel. On film, a better sense of the inner struggles which the characters face emerges, and they come to life. Scenes which show Mark looking at himself in a mirror, or Tim ordering takeaway meals over and over again, and Rose frolicking around London, capture the essence of the characters so well it is then slightly shocking to see the actors on stage once the filmed sections stop. Even the addition of loud accompaniment from a talented drummer (Dylan Sweet) live on stage doesn’t bring the theatrical aspects up to the level of the projected story. This leaves Eigengrau with an uncertainty about whether it should be portrayed as a play or a film.
Ironically, this idea of uncertainty is directly mirrored through the characters. Throughout the entire production Rose and Tim seem to be the ones with unrealistic outlooks on life, but are also unbothered by the responsibilities of being functioning adults. In contrast, these responsibilities seem to weigh heavily on Cassie and Mark, who struggle against the current of society. All of the characters are equally admirable in the ways in which they choose to live their lives, but in the end it is clear which characters are happy and which are not.
The stage setting and props used are largely functional, giving a general sense of an urban environment but little else. The lighting design really only stands out during a scene when Rose performs karaoke, helping emphasise the pain which seems to engulf her in that moment. Amidst the inherent limitations of the set, lighting, and production, the onstage characters are restricted in what they can convey to the audience – but this is hardly noticeable until the medium of film is added. Only then do the limitations of the stage become obvious and it seems clear that Eigengrau would make an incredible independent film rather than a stage production. That said, this is an interesting treatment of a phenomenal piece of writing that is genuinely worth seeing.
Directed by: Tate Jackson and Rex Elliot
Produced by: Tate Jackson
Written by: Penelope Skinner
Eigengrau played at Putney Arts Theatre until the 4th January.
