Listen! I'm Telling You Stories

Polished experimental theatre is a pleasure to engage with. This team of nine creators/performers spent one month's residency with the PACT Collective and it translates seamlessly onto the stage. Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station, 112kms north of Broken Hill, is the base from which this tight-knit crew built their show. It speaks softly and firmly of identity.

The introduction was concerned with the exposition of their base location, and surprisingly engaged from the get-go. Its flow, however, was derived less from traditional, performative means, and more from its stumblings, the gaps filled in by the actors sitting, their correction of what actually happened and when. Starting the piece like this, the audience was immediately confronted with the collaborative nature that sustained the action throughout. Not for a second did any actor or character become the "lead"; at every given point there was a deliberate action or inaction that pervaded the space. What's striking about this show is the sense of purpose that the performers maintain throughout. At every moment, they've chosen where to be. At every moment, they've chosen what to say and what to remain silent about. It develops itself as an exposé on stage-craft but at no moment is it boring or does it slip into academic nonsense.

Short (one-hour), succinct, well-rounded and delivered superbly, this is a collaborative piece that's worth a night out.