GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN present a damning celebration of performance in a brilliant, untrustworthy two-hander.
While theatre critics and arts journalist spend inexcusable word limits prattling on about making theatre, GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN make all the points they need to in a sharp, short, hilarious fifty-five minutes.
A po-faced Jen and a hyperactive Lucy take us on a tour of their wide ranging thoughts on performance and response while they attempt to respond to theatre company Ontroerend Goed who created Internal. Thankfully, it doesn't matter whether or not you've seen Internal, External is undeniably accessible, particularly because of the frank manner GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN approach performance beginning with a run down of the time left before the show ends using a series of placards. There are a lot of shows that could do with a countdown to the end, it's a relief to find this isn't one of them.
The placard idea they have of course stolen from whoever directed that Bob Dylan video and they have no problem telling us that. It's a nod to their influences which they acknowledge through a scripted argument, one of many examples of the perfect two hander that they present in External. Lucy and Jen provide a great contrast, an obvious one sure, but in citing this tried and tested process of trapping two opposing characters in a mission destined to go wrong, they tap into some real honesty about the relationships involved in performance. And that's where the success of this show lies.
Like Ontroerend Goed did with Internal, a one-on-one show, they challenge the position of the audience in this relationship. Here, it can sometimes become a little precious, but that's half the fun. They make us question our purpose and our importance. The performers try to predict our expectations of the show but we soon realise they don't really give two hoots about them. In doing so, they addresses both the commercial side of theatre making, pandering to an audience, and the seemingly self-indulgent ethos of so many seedling fringe companies.
They also play with how much we're willing to believe. Lucy's hyperactive character, concerned with dressing up and putting on a show seems to be the one less likely to tell us the truth when presented next to the sometimes harshly frank Jen. But can anyone in a scripted show be trusted? Much of External seems rooted in exploiting formulaic performances that we're so used to and pushing us to question what we see. External is a show you can read into endlessly and has you thinking about it well beyond the final applause.
External runs at Soho Theatre until 17th September.
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