… It’s About… The Sublime… In Search Of ?

While waiting in the La Mama Courthouse foyer, writer-director Lloyd Jones warns us that this isn’t going to be a conventional piece of theatre. Inspired by Australian abstract-expressionist painter, Tony Tuckson, … It’s About… The Sublime… In Search Of ? is a work of what Jones calls “non-theatre theatre”.

Jones emphasises it won't be entertainment akin to what you’d see at the Malthouse or Red Stitch. We’ll be spending the majority of the time in the dark, and classical music will feature prominently. 

Is this pre-show briefing essential? Perhaps Jones sees it as a necessary disclaimer in case anyone genuinely thought the ensuing events were unplanned or unsafe. But the rundown chiefly serves to curtail the surprise of the work.

We are escorted to our seats by a member of the ensemble, each carrying a battery-powered candle in an otherwise dark theatre. We sit on the stage, while the ensemble scatter themselves across the tiered seating area. 

Proceedings begin with 25 minutes of classical music, from Beethoven to Wagner, which is wonderful and doesn't feel like we're at the theatre. The knowledge you aren’t missing anything encourages full submersion in the works of the great composers. Various trains of thought materialise during the reverie, not all of them profound. 

The volume fades but the music lingers through rest of the performance, which is interactive and non-linear. The programme states that ‘the sublime’ amounts to “mankind’s futile attempt to control nature – the ensemble more or less sidestep language in their evocation of this humbling condition. 

The ensemble roam around us, donning squid arms and face masks, wonky sunglasses and faraway eyes. They scan the room with pocket torches, pointing at and beckoning us. People creep up behind you to whisper in your ears, “Have you seen the sublime? Was it awe-inspiring?”

There is yelling, crying, singing and arguing, before the performance ends with a chorus of walloping laughter. It is certainly evocative, if not quite transcendent.