Terminus – Disturbingly Funny

The director's notes for Pi Theatre's Terminus include descriptions such as “classic storytelling. It's an explosive yarn full of chill, spills and a few dark laughs”. . . “surreal, violent tales with an urban focus.”

I'm really not sure I can provide a more accurate description than that.

Mark O'Rowe's Terminus is beautifully written. Its poetic, aggressive style is an effective blend of the mundane and the surreal. Poetic language is always a challenge, but all three actors attacked the text with gusto and the woven monologues kept my rapt attention for the full 115 minutes. John Emmet Tracy was the only performer who managed to fully embody the text, making the metre his own. Each performer had moments where the energy of the rhythm overtook the energy of the narrative, but it was never for long and not in an overwhelming way.

I'm not sure how accurate a portrait of “contemporary Irish life” the content of this play is, given the extreme and surreal content, but Terminus does have a gritty, urban edge that contemporary audiences will identify with. The humour is on the darker side, but laughs are surprising and often, making the incredible elements more relatable and bridging the gap between the world of the play and that of the audience.

The set is necessarily sparse and the different level locations were interesting, sometimes enhancing the story (as in the case of the crane) but sometimes unnecessary (like arriving at someone's door). The lighting design was subtle, complex and effective, I only really noticed because the lit areas were very small and the actors skillfully found their light no matter what they were doing. This is something I used to take for granted, but having seen so many professional productions in Vancouver where actors consistently lose their light, I feel it bears mentioning.

The performers were all comfortable on stage, engaging the audience, but I often felt more talked at that invited in. More work could have been done in personalizing the text and in bringing it into the body, this script has so much unplumbed potential. As it was, the story drew me in, engaged my imagination and kept my attention; with a bit more work it could have reached in and wrapped itself around my soul.

Stylistically interesting and edgy, Terminus nudges the boundaries without overflowing them. It is an intriguing piece: sparse, aggressive, darkly funny and very strange. Check it out and expand your expectations of contemporary theatre.