Theatre
A man alone in the dark imagines he is not a man alone in the dark. For company.
See tickets below
Presented by: afterburner
From: Ōtepoti | Dunedin
“A voice comes to one in the dark. Imagine.”
afterburner is proud to present actor Simon O'Connor in a performance of Samuel Beckett's short novella Company. Co-Directed with Richard Huber and Stuart Young, designed by Marty Roberts, and with sound design by Kerian Varaine, Company is the dark tale of a man alone imagining he is not alone.
An old man craves only stillness and silence at last but he is helplessly stirred by figments of his own making and beset by memories, which may or may not be his own. By turns entertained, confused, exasperated and alarmed, he struggles to locate - but, just as often, fiercely resists locating - a sense of his precise self within all his ‘fabling’.
The text of Company has a kind of atomic energy. The language is precise and bare. The images pack a punch. This production takes its cue from that. Lean forward a little, let the ears do the work, light and sound and performance just enough to focus the words. This examination of one lying on his back in the dark is poignant, absurdly humorous, thoughtful and always resonant.
Company was written towards the end of Samuel Beckett’s life and is considered a modern classic. A novella, it has been performed as a monologue many times since its publication. This is its first production in New Zealand.
afterburner won the Best Theatre and Best Technical Achievement awards at the 2023 Dunedin Fringe Festival for their production Dark Radio.
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