EMMA PARFITT DISCUSSES THE DEAD END COLLECTIVE’S DIVE INTO OUTER SPACE
Dead End Collective advertised their new production, The Crystalline Consciousness That Speaks Meaning Into Flesh, as ‘a romp’, and a romp it most certainly was. With a talented ensemble cast and captivating production design, this show is a promise of more excellent things to come from Dead End Collective.
In their brand-new original work, Simon Brownjohn and Sophia Zikic transport us beyond this world and to a disconcerting vision of the future. We begin onboard a spaceship transporting a cryo-sleeping crew of seven, including the ships uber-cool Captain Alexandra (Cecilia Liu), the slightly mad Doctor Quinn (Josh Higgins), veteran engineer Dianne (Saskia Powles), working-class crewmate Olive (Marcie Di Bartolomeo), lowly warehouse guy turned union revolutionary Mateo (James Dong), corporation brand rep Chelsea (Bella Russell) and her tech-savvy boyfriend – if you could call him that – Noah (Kailen Missen). What could possibly go wrong?
As it turns out: pretty much everything. The characters are woken from their slumber when the hull of the ship is breached by a mysterious alien. As questions are raised about Captain Alexandra’s competency, a gruesome murder is discovered, shifting the play from a hilarious, hyper-pop sci-fi to a nail-biting murder mystery where tensions run high, and power is everything.
As we took our seats, we were greeted with a thick blanket of haze and pink, pulsing warning lights – an ominous scene warning of sinister things to come. A discomforting choreographed movement performed by the cast further foreshadowed the direction of the show. Their strange and sharp movements were entrancing, complemented excellently by eerie red light and haze.
Jaques Cooney Adlard created a lighting design which was a big feature throughout this show. Pulsing lights acted as a warning to great effect, well invoking the image of a ship in trouble and leaning into the sci-fi element. The design was packed with variety, contrasting cold, blinding white light in the surgery room with abstract colours in moments of high emotional tension. Though, on occasion it was difficult to focus on the scene with lighting distracting from the main action, especially when the audience was lit up with pulsating lights. Despite this, there were many memorable lighting states throughout the show, including some very creative use of a mirror-ball to build a wonderfully eerie yet hyper-pop-esque cargo hold setting.
Kit Nicholson’s sound design was also a strong element of the show, serving particularly well in moments of high tension. For example, the sound accompanying the movement pieces was well considered and complemented the lighting and choreography nicely. All I can say in addition is that I was left wanting more – perhaps some ship ambiance to really transport audiences away from the theatre and into a creaking spaceship.
This show’s ensemble of performers were stellar. They were a terrifically talented group who complemented each other well and hit every emotional (and humorous) mark – each complete with an indulgently zany physicality. Particularly memorable were Higgins, delivering a convincing and hilarious spiral into madness as the geeky and knowledge-hungry mad scientist; Russell, who expressed captivating emotional variety that kept the audience on their toes; and Missen, who, according to the uproarious audience, should consider pursuing a career in stand-up comedy.
The real stand-out of this show was the production design by Josie Symons. The incredible costumes, which used bright colours and interesting shapes, were well thought-out for each character and brought us into the hyper-pop and futuristic world. Some favourites were Chelsea’s fabulous hoop skirt and the alien’s cleverly constructed figure. The set was primarily two corner flats used cleverly to quickly transition between settings and expertly decorated to reflect each distinct area of the ship, also bringing in interesting textures. There were some outstanding props too, including the captain’s spectacularly oversized definitely-not-Stanley cup.
Under the eyes of directors/writers Brownjohn and Zikic, thoughtful blocking and scene construction wrapped everything up in a bow, tying it all together. The writing of this show was thoughtful, with well-constructed and developed characters, not to mention an absolutely killer story. However, tackling themes from identity to belonging to isolation to pop to capitalism – in addition to juggling multiple relationships and emotional journeys – was a lot for the audience to take in. As a result, some messages were rushed in order to fit everything else in. There were also some pacing issues, with the show at times feeling slow and drawn-out. Despite this, their wonderfully creative plot had their audience hook, line and sinker as evidenced by the many laughs and gasps through the show, an achievement that is to be highly commended.
The Crystalline Consciousness That Speaks Meaning Into Flesh was an out-of-this-world show and a feast of talent from every facet. Congratulations should be given to Dead End Collective for a highly successful student theatre mainstage debut, and I look forward to them bringing to the stage more shows which make us laugh, think, and exclaim: ‘what the…!?’
Written by Emma Parfitt.
Edited by Hallie Vermeend.
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