• theatre
  • features
  • faqs
  • contact
  • theatre
  • features
  • faqs
  • contact
  Art Murmurs - Wellington Reviews

Reviews

Frames of the Chaos

5/3/2021

Comments

 

Jenny Nimon

Picture
Frames of the Chaos is a pre-recorded solo retelling of an immigrant rights protest from the perspective of documentary-maker Shinzo. In its blurb in the Fringe programme, the show describes itself as ‘epic poetry of our time’ and touts writer and performer Hideto Ambiguous as an ‘award-winning migrant storyteller’. It sets me up with high expectations, and what is delivered does not come close to meeting them.

During a pandemic, you have to be innovative, and I understand that there are limits to what you can achieve in a recording. No matter how much energy you put in, it will not carry the energy that it might with a live audience, but there are still tools at your disposal – lighting, costume, music. Ambiguous uses none of these. Instead, I sit down to an hour-long recording of a man wearing theatre blacks, performing in a black box, lit with amber lighting so generic and unchanging that it may well just be the house lights. The recording itself is low quality, with patchy sound and a shaking camera that at one point zooms in on his chest and cuts his face out of the frame. Ambiguous’s voice work is good, but his acting is disengaging and his mime is cringe-worthy, straying into the realms of fake stair-climbing. The standard can only be compared to a recording for an NCEA Level 1 Drama assessment.

What really strikes me is how strangely low the stakes are. You’d think that an immigrant rights protest exploring police brutality would hold some tension, but it doesn’t. Shinzo doesn’t seem affected in any convincing way by the violence he witnesses. In fact, because Ambiguous only plays characters on the sidelines and there is no supporting sound design, you could easily believe that the protests aren’t even happening, if it weren’t for him robotically saying ‘Oh no, now the police are firing rubber bullets’. Ambiguous tries to play too many characters, and the result is that the transitions are clumsy and, aside from a few distinct voices, there often aren’t enough defining mannerisms to make it clear who is meant to be speaking. In the most questionable scene of the show, Ambiguous, who is of Japanese descent, makes an error of judgement when he starts playing a Latino man. As this character, he gives a speech to protestors about racism, which is ironic in the worst kind of way. It feels very pot-kettle, but I am relieved to say that at the least he does not attempt a Latino accent.

The most redeeming moment of the performance comes from Shinzo’s grandmother. She tells the story of her sixth birthday party, which no one showed up to due to racial prejudice sparked by the Pearl Harbour bombings. The story is poignant and vulnerable, and in it Ambiguous shows more emotional scope as an actor than he has across the entire show. It’s a beautiful and moving scene, but unfortunately these five minutes aren’t enough to justify the other 55.

Frames of the Chaos is on in the Te Auaha cinema at reduced capacity at 7pm until Saturday 6 March. To book tickets, or for more information, visit the Fringe website. 

Comments

    Local Honest Reviews

    At Art Murmurs, our aim is to provide honest and constructive art reviews to the Wellington community.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    September 2021
    July 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

    Categories

    All
    All Age Appropriate
    Art
    BATS
    Beauty Standards
    Black Comedy
    Body Positive
    Circa
    Circus
    Comedy
    Comedy Festival 2018
    Comedy Festival 2019
    Comedy Gala 2022
    Community Theatre
    Dance
    Devised
    Documentary
    Drag
    Drama
    Emerging Artist
    Exhibition
    Experimental
    Female Artists
    Feminism
    Feminist
    Festival
    For Kids
    Fringe
    Fun
    Gallery
    Gryphon Theatre
    Hannah Playhouse
    Heart + Music
    History
    Improv
    Interactive
    International
    Interview
    Ivy
    Lighting
    Local
    Mental Health
    Monologue
    Music
    Musical
    New Writing
    New Zealand
    NZ Comedy
    NZ Fringe
    NZIF
    On Tour
    Performance Poetry
    Photography
    Photospace Gallery
    Physical Theatre
    Political
    Politics
    Premiere
    Pyramid Club
    Queer
    Race
    Roxy LIVE
    Science
    Scruffy Bunny Improv Theatre
    Sexual Violence
    Shakespeare
    Site Specific
    Site-specific
    Sketch
    Solo Show
    Song
    Spoken Word
    Stagecraft
    Storytelling
    Tahi Festival
    Te Auaha
    Theatre
    Thought Provoking
    Thought-provoking
    Thriller
    Toi Poneke Gallery
    Verbatim
    Victoria University
    Violence
    Virtual Theatre
    Weekly
    Wellington
    Wellington Footlights
    Wellington Repertory