Amphibians is an impressive visual exploration of the mindset of competitive swimmers.
Offstage Theatre's production of Amphibians at Bridewell Theatre's unused swimming pool completely justifies any eyebrow-raising that surrounds a play about swimmers set in a pool with no water. Cressida Brown's direction of Steve Waters' script is poetic, perceptual and opens up a world unknown to the everyman.
It is at times eerily quiet, with only the calm but jolting voice of mythical water-lover Arion penetrating the thoughts of young competitive swimmers. At other times, it's hectic and filled with the white noise of rushing water and rushing thoughts. The play has been extremely well researched and offers an insight into the mind set of some young people who push themselves to compete at a professional level.
For all its haunting projections, and the visual playground it provides the audience, Amphibians lacks a good story. Elsa and Max meet in adulthood having not seen each other in three years. They reminisce and analyse their motivations and influences. There's an order to the way events unfold but there's no strong narrative so it doesn't always hold our attention. What emerges is a series of questions for the audience and the swimmers. What do athletes sacrifice in pursuit of limited, almost unattainable, success? What happens to their elite position as champions, once the next generation of superstars emerges?
This is no straight play, so be prepared to turn around at short notice to catch a glimpse of a swimmer on a balcony or crane your neck slightly to see what's going on in the darkest part of the pool. The lack of water means nothing because movement director Kate Sagovsky makes it so that her cast don't need to swim. Their exhaustion and anticipation are all conveyed faultlessly, whilst, thanks to Steve Water's script, so too are their ambitions and fears. Peppered with somewhat predictable motivational speeches from the swim coach (à la any inspirational sports movie you've seen in the last 20 years) it could do with a meaty storyline to balance out the impressive character exploration.
The pool at Bridewell Theatre is an exceptional place to hold a theatre show and Offstage Theatre use it quite exceptionally too. The audience sit in the pool and watch the action unfold around them, which sounds simple but contributes hugely to the atmosphere.
Though it's not perfect, Amphibians is definitely a thought-provoking, must-see show.
Amphibians runs at at Bridewell Theatre until 28th January.
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