factory.txt

http://www.nightnews.net/fringe2008.htm#fac1

The Factory - Badac Theatre Company
venue :: Pleasance Courtyard Undergrand
see links :: http://www.badactheatre.com
category :: Theatre (Immersive and site specific theatre)
Reviewed date :: 06 08 08

Review: As a local in Edinburgh, I was quite excited when I heard
that the ancient cellars beneath the Pleasance had been taken over
by a theatre company at this years Fringe and I was dying to see
the outcome. It was an added bonus that the production staged within
them was about Auschwitz; this is always a difficult subject matter
and also one which companies at the Fringe have an endless
fascination with.  We were only slightly out of the pouring rain
as we queued outside waiting and I was not greatly concerned that
the Pleasance ushers asked us all to hand over any bags and spare
belongings we had about us for safe storage during the show. One
of the Cast (in concentration camp striped pyjamas) was hovering
about mumbling; whether for added atmosphere or maybe rehearsing,
wasn't instantly clear. It was a wet, desultory evening and as the
longish queue waited to go in, the mumbling became clearer, 'Watch
us inside, we will show you what they did, we will show you!...' 
When eventually the queue was made to move, the immersive experience
had already begun and the audience had been brusquely separated into
two files. We were marched in but not without Emily Bruce as a 
'fellow prisoner,' heaving a bag of gravel on her back behind me
and breathing down my neck, the steel shutters closed behind us 
with some finality, the show had started. Badac Theatre Company 
aim to deal with difficult human rights issues as political art 
with special reference to violence, aggression and thuggery that
may be state sanctioned or societal and with special emphasis on
the effect on its victims. A company with a following, it has a 
reputation for giving its theatregoers experiences that are visceral,
shocking and compelling. In the Factory, Badac attempts to give 
insights into the physical and emotional experiences accompanying
the extermination process used within the gas chambers at Auschwitz
/ Birkenau, on its victims. A warning about the immersive aspect 
of the production was not apparent in any of the pre event publicity
I was able to glean; even so, only singling out a few audience 
members for a coshing could have made this show more realistic. As
it was we were all destined for the gas chambers anyway but not 
without being deafened into docility for the first ten minutes, 
shouted at continually to move from underground chamber to chamber
and led like existential, time travelling tourists through the 
processes that would dehumanise us further before being finally
gassed. The chambers and deafening panel beating of the first moments
are a metaphor for slaughter on an industrial scale, as are the
different chambers. It’s a grim experience and one that had a young
girl in tears within the first chamber and first several minutes.
At each stage of the process and in each chamber the audience are
halted and the cast amongst us plays out another dark tableau of 
the process. Emily Bruce seems constantly behind me whispering, 
'Must survive!,' and she is the one that asks questions, that wants
to know what's going to happen next, that gets beaten offstage! It
does not take much empathy to be on the verge of some powerful 
insights into fear, apprehension and terror; what it is to struggle
to keep your nerve, to try to maintain your dignity. Things are 
intimated to happen, some terrible, in front of us or out of sight,
things that can play on emotions and your mind. The audience make 
eye contact with each other in silent grim solidarity but learn to
avoid the more aggressive of the Sonderkommando lest they be shouted
at again. By the time we are in the penultimate chamber we know that
we are all going to strip and die but not without witnessing the 
last terrible moments of those that did and not a hairs breadth 
separating us. Even at this late stage Badac are still playing with
us, giving us final dramatic moments tinged with pathos. There are 
final acts of bravery, love and grim details as to where to stand 
with the children for a faster gassing! The Factory offers a powerful
and deeply moving experience to those that are willing to cooperate 
with this mature production company's staging and open their minds to
its unique approach, so be prepared!
5 gold bats

by John C Vassallo