A sprawling showcase for new theatre writing, chaos:II is, well, chaotic good fun at the Union Theatre
“Here is the truth”
Long Nights Productions’ chaos:II takes an admirably fresh approach to the scratch night, bringing twelve brand new short plays to the Union Theatre but smashing them together so that very few of them get to play out in a linear fashion. Most are fragmented and whirled in a kaleidoscopic fashion to form, if not actual cohesion then a tangible feeling of belonging together, a bravura exercise which works a treat in the first half here.
With completely free rein, the writing covers any manner of bases but for me, it feels sharpest and most effective in responding to particularly contemporary concerns. The subtle exploration of the consequences of freer sexual identities is beautifully put across in Jemima Langdon’s My ex bf’s bf, even among the chihuahua of it all there’s something telling about gay age gap relationships and hookup culture in Joe Harrington’s Lap dog, and Robyn Faye’s Clam Chowder Cunts is most insightful about how friendships have mutated in an age of WhatsApp groups, situationships and selfies.
Elsewhere, there’s something tender about the old-age romance played through teenage eyes in Gráinne Dromgoole’s Young and Easy, Green and Dying and something exciting about the linguistic talent of Sam Smith’s This Swollen Thing, almost Churchillian in its daring. Maddy Chisholm-Scott’s Gone Fishing benefits brilliantly from the format, the break in its scenes echoing the endless waiting that is that particular pastime as its break-up-in-a-boat scenario plays out with sensitive intelligence.
I can’t imagine the logistics of bringing together 12 writer/director/acting teams and so a little chaos around chaos:II was certainly to be expected. But even without the late start and over-running, something about the second half felt less successful. There was much less of the intermingling of plays, and the two key pieces that got to play out at length didn’t hit the spot in the same way as many of their earlier counterparts. The lack of chaos was noticeable but at the same time, I have to be honest and say the uncomfortableness of my seat was increasingly playing on my mind!
But altogether, this feels like a great endeavour and an imaginative way of presenting new writing, making the audience think about it more than perhaps a traditional staging would. Where else would you see a snake doing burlesque right next to a disturbing revenge porn drama that feels horribly real. Or troubling old racists rubbing shoulders with some wacky dog owners. Chaos indeed.
