New artist-led company Timelapse bring their first show, a futuristic musical called Precipice, to the London fringe, with five actor-musicians in the cast.
Set some 300 years in the future, Precipice benefits from the involvement of Benjamin Button‘s Darren Clark and Signal‘s Adam Lenson, yet feels very different from any of their previous work.
The place is a tower block, with everything in a dilapidated state and everything run under ‘the balance’. Although we only see a small group of people, there’s a ‘community’.
A parallel storyline sends us back to Ash and Emily buying their first home and finding themselves on opposite sides of a catastrophic incident involving the Thames.
With numerous songs, often sporting oversimplified lyrics (one about a sandwich is an example), Precipice is nicely apocalyptic but often frustratingly out of reach.
‘Biscuits’, one of the main characters, has an acoustic ballads about a mudlarker in act two that sidesteps the electro-score. Other songs offer comment on how the world has changed and collapsed.
Without reading the programme notes below the show, though, I didn’t realise that Ash and Emily were Leo and Zoe in this future world, spending time wondering how they survived so long.
I liked the idea that, just as in War of the Worlds, bacteria may be the cause of mass destruction, instead of, say, nuclear power. In a world that increasingly relies on antibiotic and medical intervention, we could be counting down to a man-made end of the world.
Team this with climate change and the long-term future looks bleak, but Precipice‘s idea of a community living for centuries in a tower block with power and food coming from unclear sources seems far-fetched.
I needed more context about who these five people were and their back stories. Did their ancestors survive the floods and contamination? Why did the air stay toxic? Might there be communities outside living normally?
A show needs place, time and purpose to be clear enough to follow, even if it is somewhat experimental. Precipice tells us where and when, but not why. The Thames is key, the end of the world is slowly approaching, but for what reason?
Director Lenson’s programme notes tell us this show, with its six writers and 50 days together over a two-year gestation, is meant to be strange, formally audacious, and tonally unruly. And that’s great. I’m all for being challenged, even inspired.
The cast (Max Alexander-Taylor, Holly Freeman, Isabella Marshall, Melinda Orengo, Eric Stroud) are very good, with some stellar vocals and a clear enthusiasm for the project.
No one writer is credited for lyrics, music, or book. Lenson and Clark are listed alongside Stu Barker, Rachel Bellman, Annabelle Lee Revak, and Shaye Poulton Richards.
Libby Todd’s design offers a sense of decay, desolation, and claustrophobia. Ben Jacobs’s lighting is atmospheric without being overpowering, but Orbital’s sound design works best when pulled back.
Timelapse looks to be an interesting collaboration and one to watch. Precipice isn’t perfect, but I liked a lot of it, immersing myself in its ideas and audacity.
I’m giving it 3.5 stars. It made me think without engaging emotionally with the characters and their situation; but as a new musical, it is interesting.
Precipice continues at the New Diorama until 13 Dec with tickets here (£19).
Image credit: Alex Brenner