A dizzying digital fairytale, Guidelines feels like Brothers Grimm in binary code. Unsettling, imaginative and often opaque, its haunting imagery and soundscapes linger long after the feed has refreshed.Rating
Excellent
As a woman in her late 20’s, I’ve spent more of my life online than I care to admit, digesting and internalising images meticulously selected to be shown to me, based on interests, outrage, and mindless doomscrolling. Two girls giggling over a Babybel; a concerned school assembly lecture; a tech CEO apologising to the families of children who may or may not have been hurt by social media; a TikTok dance; unsafe content. These are all images I have encountered in my digital lifetime, under the illusion that I control what I see. Guidelines, at the New Diorama Theatre, recreates these familiar fragments to remind us that no algorithm is accidental.
A viral video circulates on the internet, transcending space and time, carried by the delicate wires that link our data across oceans. The true nature of this video is intentionally obscured, something too horrifying and abstract to comprehend, like a Lovecraftian monster born on your phone. As it expands in scope, it comes to haunt two friends, a school, a forest, and eventually the world itself, all reckoning with the same unknowable beast.
Rachel Leah-Hosker and Alex McCauley skilfully multi-role a series of stereotypes and ideas rather than fully realised characters; this is, after all, the internet, where depth is flattened, and only the symbol remains. Their vibrant Silicon Valley gurus, curious teens, and TikTok dancers particularly thrive, drawing the audience in before flicking away just as quickly to the next fad. Leah-Hosker’s physicality is especially strong, with both performers commanding the space, manipulating microphones, ropes, and soil itself as they dig towards the story’s metallic core.
Jida Akil’s minimalist set lends itself well to the abstract void of the web, with only a small square at centre stage inviting characters to quite literally ‘touch grass’. Patch Middleton’s sound design works in perfect tandem with Adi Currie’s lighting, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere in which shadows and metallic groans are afforded the same legitimacy as human presence, questioning what we deem to be real and what we deny its humanity.
At one point, McCauley muses that “you understand something by knowing how it breaks”, with the tragedy of Molly Russell, the perversion of Grok AI’s nudification features, and Zuckerberg’s appearance before US congress – insisting that a ‘see anyway’ button is beneficial for teenagers in the face of unsafe content – all leaping uncomfortably to mind, haunting our digital timelines.
Though largely hypnotic, Guidelines occasionally struggles beneath the weight of its symbolism. Its intentionally opaque language risks alienating its audience, particularly in an absurd, slightly wacky conclusion that distances the show from the dread and anxiety established in its remarkable opening sequence. This will not be a show for everyone, but for those it resonates with, it has the potential to evolve into a cult favourite.
Brothers Grimm in binary code, Guidelines is more than worth the audience’s time and consideration. It asks us to really consider the terms we choose to ‘accept and continue’ and stands as a striking debut from Conglomerate and a fairytale that will keep you up at night.
Written by Pip Williams
Directed by James Nash
Produced by Moya Matthews
Set & Costume Design by Jida Akil
Sound Design by Patch Middleton
Lighting Design by Adi Currie
Movement Director: Ken Nakajima
Dramaturg: Louise Orwin
Facilitator: Alessandra Zavagno
Opening Composition & Vocalist: AJ Turner
Consultant Producer: Ella Dale
Stage Manager: Sam Thornton
Guidelines plays at New Diorama Theatre until Saturday 14 February.
