Back to Square One?
Te Whare O Rukutia
Tuesday, October 18
REVIEW BY BARBARA FRAME
As we arrive at Te Whare O Rukutia, each of us is given a piece of chalk and asked to write our name at the edge of the performance space, which is a large rectangular blackboard.
Doing this establishes that we are not just anonymous audience members, but individuals with names, identities and (still unspecified) roles in what is to come.
When the show formally begins, Anders Falstie-Jensen of The Rebel Alliance tells us about Inga, his 95-year-old grandmother who lives alone in Denmark. Inga takes the long view of events, and her understanding of the world goes right back to Norse myth and its prophecies about the catastrophic end of everything, and its hints of a new beginning.
During the 2020 lockdown, Inga’s orderly, predictable routine was disrupted, and she has had to find new ways of coping with life. Perhaps, Falstie-Jensen suggests, this is a little bit like the hopscotch game that children play — having completed the routine, can we go back to square one and think again about our lives and what really matters?
Towards the end of the 50 minutes he encourages us to consider our connectedness, and audience members are asked to name one or more countries with which they have some kind of meaningful connection. Tuesday night’s audience came up with an impressive collective score in the 60s.
Theatre of this kind is hard to classify: Back to Square One? contains elements of blackboard art, personal reminiscence, storytelling, myth and at times even sermonising. Despite its often sombre subject matter it’s never dull or depressing, and Anders-Falstie’s warm, sincere personality, and by extension that of Inga, keeps the tone positive and optimistic.
At the and of the show, coffee and Danish edible treats conclude this unusual performance.
