Post-Eden: multimedia spectacle

This multimedia spectacle from writer/director Jordan Tannahill and presented by Suburban Beast (part of the SummerWorks festival) is an engagingly cinematic take on suburban angst - a topic which has been thoroughly exhausted by popular film and television but is refreshed in Tannahill's capable hands.

Vivid story telling, tangible characters, and dual synchronized video projectors add many a layer to a subtle and gently delivered story about a broken marriage, a platonic teenage romance, and a dead dog with a restless soul.

Tannahill’s script is sparse but never lacking and pitch perfect performances by Sascha Cole and David Coomber help nail the awkwardly domestic mood of the piece. Jenna MacMillan also shines in her turn as a soft-spoken and wistful teenager. Contemplative pacing and an evocative soundtrack all help make Post-Eden a truly hypnotic piece of theatre.

If there is a criticism one can level at Post-Eden it is that the supporting footage (although beautiful and effective) is quite literal and largely eliminates the need to draw on ones visual imagination. It raises the question of whether the line between theatre and film is a little too blurred in this case and whether the story would hold up without the visuals. Then again, if Tannahill hadn’t planned on using video footage, it’s entirely possible he would have written a different kind of play.

Post-Eden is on as part of SummerWorks. For more information seek paradise here.