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Knick Knack, directed by Sophie Cassidy and devised by Cassidy and Emily Long, Mae-sula Leahy, Lora Hartin and CN Smith. It was performed in the Samuel Beckett Theatre from 20th to 22nd February as part of the TCD Debut Festival. The story concerns a futuristic parenting tool “the Ask Away” which answers children’s questions; the questions of four-year-old Ava. As relationships begin to fray between the tool’s four constituent parts (numbered One to Four and played by an ensemble cast consisting of Emily Long, Mae-sula Leahy, Chloe Muldoon and CN Smith), so too does the machine begin to malfunction and to give Any questionable advice.
The basic concept for this play is certainly interesting. It prompts fascinating questions about the control of information, both inside the machine and with regard to the Ask Away’s relationship with Ava. For instance, the operators must decide whether they should tell her how to make tea and wonder how to answer a question like “How do I make friends?” Unfortunately, rather than teasing out these issues, they are played, with little success, for laughs in the case of the latter question and, as in the case of the tea-question, made to form the backdrop for some incredibly stale insubordination drama going on in the control pod.
The many perils of worldbuilding come to the fore in this production. Inconsistencies in the logic of the fictional universe distract the audience and make the task of the actors almost impossible. Efforts to lay a dramatic structure over the play’s basic concept necessitate what are apparently computer programmes possessing human emotions and desires – something quite like what we see in Disney’s Inside Out. However, perhaps because the actors found themselves caught somewhere between android and anthromorph, their performances were inevitably and frustratingly wooden. Furthermore, though all four actors possess excellent stage presence, they all struggle to project their voices – a problem that is not helped by the play’s busy sound design.
The sound design, by Ferdy Emmet, was once again conceptually excellent (Amy’s voice came through the house speakers and sounded a lot like R2D2, which made sense given that we were seeing computer programmes talk to each other in English). However, Emmet will need to reconsider the execution of this voice as it is overbearing, too loud, and painfully screechy. Costume designer Kiah Ronaldson succeeded however, the colour-coded characters matching with Jack Rogers’ sparse yet effective set in a very appealing way. Rowen Clarke’s lighting design was also admirable.
Frustratingly, this play takes an interesting idea and, instead of examining it, bizarrely side-lines it in favour of a very standard plot about a frustrated worker. In an unfortunate turn, the “drama” that has been transplanted onto this play serves to make it much less interesting. The play is not without its potential, however, and its haphazardly-constructed internal logic is quite interesting in and of itself. In developing the concept for future productions, the play’s devisers should stay away from story for story’s sake and focus on the genuinely interesting aspects of the fictional universe they have created.
Photo: Hiram Harrington
