This performance of Ion was a contemporary adaption of the Greek tragedy, written by Jack Dean and directed by Sarah Dyke. The play is set in a post apocalyptic world in which everything we know of this world is destroyed and those who have survived have to piece their lives back together. The survivors include an entrepreneur, Xuthus, who holds control over the new world and a group of preachers who look to religion to the meaning of life. As the tension between the two grows plans begin to be put into motion to eradicate the other, and as a result the preachers choose to unveil the son of the entrepreneur’s wife Creusa as a means of having Xuthus murdered, the plot thickens. The performance was at Bath Spa University in an intimate box room which added to the tension and the immediacy of the performance which was used effectively by director Sarah Dyke who split the stage into two, one half, a picturesque house and the other, a temple with several oddities gloriously hanging from the walls, not only this but the audience were addressed several times throughout the performance which capitalised further on the small performance space. Performance-wise, there was a sense of the cast being underprepared, some scenes were nervous and unnatural, this came down to lack of use of props in the rehearsal process and not only that but a lack of energy seemed to stifle the action slightly.
As a director Sarah Dyke worked on a production of the famous Fiddler on the Roof which was greatly received in its week run in the Bath Spa University Theatre, selling out every night. This in itself poses the question how would she fair directed a smaller, more intimate performance and it would seem she has done well to create a coherent production. However it seemed that elements of the show were overlooked by the audience, some more complicated than they had to be, for instance the silhouetted undressing of the females of the play made to represent the loss of identity and purpose, such metaphors seemed to be quite unclear with lack of through line to utilise Dyke’s clever and imaginative symbolisms.
Jack Dean as a writer has worked with Sarah Dyke several times before so there was a definite sense of synergy and understanding between writer and director even more so when the two edited and review the script together in order to create the best dialogue possible. Some of the original script was edited by Dyke in the rehearsal process as a means of making sure the script stayed adjacent to the plot and also to mirror the original story as closely as possible. The script was concise and to the point, possibly lacking a bit of length and substance but the swiftness of the scenes worked seemingly well.
Overall, the show had some moments which had the potential to be top class theatre but with an evident cloud of nervousness about the show it would seem it could do with an injection of energy to bolster it to the greatness it ultimately could be. Thom's Star rating ***
