To Those Who Haven’t Stopped Thinking… is the story of a young idealistic philosopher visiting the post-apocalyptic Universe from the Beyond in hope that she will make it a better, happier place.

The play starts as the audience takes their seats, with Bebop moving about the stage, guarding the Universe (in abstract fashion), while Rocksteady is marching around on patrol with a large (toy) gun. Okay, right away I want the actors to do well, just like the aunts and family members seated across from me do. The actors’ performances are so earnest that you almost want to giggle at first, but if you have any sympathy at all for brave young actors trying something new, you can’t help finding them unintentionally charming: you can tell they’re going to try something difficult, and they’re going for it all the way…

The play is written in a Brechtian style, with a very declarative delivery, and very overtly about philosophical and political ideas. The Universe is the land of archetypes, where the characters are flat and one-dimensional; it isn’t clear however if it is because of this, or due to the writing, direction and acting that we don’t come to care about the characters in the same way that we would in a more three-dimensional production. It wasn’t clear if the intention was to forcefully alienate the audience so they felt disconnected from the characters and would therefore think mostly about the political impact of the play (as we are supposed to in Brechtian theatre).

This play’s ideas are perhaps not really as revolutionary as the author seems to hope. We all know and love the themes: characters want to change the world/universe make it a better place, boy meets girl, falling in love makes life better, man’s inhumanity to man, politicians are bad etc. We just need a new perspective - another reason to love the story.

Brechtian theatre is very difficult to do, and it’s important to be clear about the mode of presentation. This production was at times a somewhat confusing mix of abstract and more naturalistic presentation. Some of the scenes did offer abstraction and otherworldliness, using stylized dialogue effectively. It was very ambitious to try to have some characters perform (perhaps unintentionally) in a somewhat naturalistic style while the others characters were presentational, but in the end it didn’t do either style justice.

The harsh, energetic techno music of the production probably gave the best clue as to what the production was trying to express, with an unfortunate lack of technical resources including a weak amp and speakers and even some lights with no gels. One can’t help thinking that the production might have been much more vivid, especially given the committed performances of the actors, if their equipment had been more powerful. You really have to give them credit for trying to create a bold, post-apocalyptic Universe with so few resources in an intimate space, which was well used by the director, effectively giving the audience on both sides a good view of the actors. For a student production this play was well cast, especially in the case of Harry Ullman as the politician and the beautiful Dilveer Panesar as the Prostitute. Ed Chappel as Vlad had good stage presence as well as some quality comic moments. The play’s relentless idealism is interesting in that it can make you feel quite cynical, just like the people in the portrayed Universe; but this a play that should be seen by those who love amateur theatre because it is one of those productions that can be interesting and challenging, even if not necessarily as intended.

Rebekah Roy, 04.06.03