Performed 18th-22nd March 2014 at Bike Shed Theatre
In a sunny garden, enveloped by birdsong, Bill and Gill talk
about stories. They have a shared past – possibly as colleagues, or teacher and
student, or perhaps more – that hovers at the edges of their interactions, hinting
at something unspoken, unresolved, unrequited. At Bill’s request, Gill is
visiting and has brought tales about the origins of language, about
miscommunication and misunderstanding. As they pass the threads of myth and
parable back and forth, collaborating and disagreeing, encouraging and
correcting, the pattern of their own entwined narrative is revealed, and we,
too, are pulled inside this subtly moving paean to the power of story.
They begin at the beginning, with flood myths from around
the world, and as Gill takes tentative steps into the telling – at times
deferring to Bill, occasionally challenging his interruptions – we glimpse the
structure of their relationship in all its give and take, surge and retreat.
While Gill balks at the ease with which Bill claims ownership of the most
ancient stories, by amending details and altering characters, she also
questions the intrinsic patriarchal slant – where are the tales with women at
their centre, shaped by women’s experiences? But Bill, who is increasingly
infirm, has a specific story he wants – needs
– to tell: Nimrod and the Tower of Babel. In a way that reflects the power
balance in their own relationship, Bill takes control of the narrative; when he
is intermittently gripped by seizures, during which he disappears from the
moment, as if dropping out of the present, Gill steps in to support him, and
they create the story together.
From start to finish, this performance is elegantly
structured and beautifully paced, with a script that revels in the power of the
word to conjure vast landscapes and epic endeavour alongside the pulsing of the
human heart. With segues into neurology – the search for ‘poetry in the
prefrontal cortex’ – that juxtapose vibrant images of neurons in the brain and
electricity whizzing across synapses, making connections and combinations like
ideas fizzing between people crammed into the expanding city of Babel, the
narrative is at once rational and scientific and brimming with passion. And
it’s absolutely gripping, Bill steadily building the story, pulling it towards
its conclusion, shaping it just as Nimrod’s followers placed brick upon brick
in their attempt to reach the stars.
Stripped right back – and in that simplicity managing to
pack philosophy and science, myth and magic, laughter and heartbreak into a
riveting 80 minutes – the strength of this piece comes from the union of
intelligent writing and the word-perfect power of the performances. It explores
how the stories that appeal to us, that speak to the deepest parts of us, are
the ones that reflect our situation, our needs and our desires, and affect the very
structure of our brains.
Written, produced & directed by Multistory Theatre Company
Cast includes Bill Buffery, Gill Nathanson
Running time 1 hour 20 mins (no interval)
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