Below Zero< A Picnic To Remember | Blog | Chris' 27th Birthday Celebration > On Thursday evening I went to the Mill Studio in Guildford with my friend Anya, which was to see a play called 'Below Zero'. Anya was writing a journalist review of the performance, so we got to see it for free, with her press passes. Anya and I met at the bar of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre for a few drinks beforehand, which is next door to the Mill Studio. After we had a few drinks together we walked over to the Mill Studio and sat in our seats to wait for the start of the play. The stage in front of us had a white set and background. A white sheet hanged from the ceiling, with something wrapped up inside it, looking like a butterfly chrysalis. We thought there may be a person inside the sheet hanging upside down, as I thought I could see the outline of a spine, although we were not sure at that point. When the play started there was a bit of music, and a young guy slowly came out of the white sheet, like a butterfly hatching out of a chrysalis. The guy was a cripple, as he picked up his crutches by the set, and limped across the stage to sit in a seat.
A light then came on that said something like 'Waiting Room', so he appeared to be in a hospital waiting room of some kind. The next thing that happened was a very thin girl came on to the set and sat down in a chair. The two actors started their dialogue and you find out he is a cripple with a bone disease affecting the growth of his legs, and she is an anorexic. They were both in a psychiatric hospital waiting room, to see the same Psychiatrist about their conditions. The cripple guy then starts flirting with the anorexic girl, but she is not interested in him.
He hobbles over to the white sheet with his crutches again, and wraps himself up inside it, and did some acrobatics. Maybe to impress the girl.
The white sheet was some sort of a symbolic abstract way of showing that they were free of their disabilities when they were talking to each other, as they forget about their problems. It was then the crippled guy's turn to see the Psychiatrist. The Psychiatrist was a middle aged man dressed in a white Doctor's coat with a beard, glasses, and bowtie. He made the crippled guy feel worse, as he told him that he needed more operations on his legs, or he could die. The crippled guy gets upset. Then his appointment is over and he hobbles back to the waiting room. The anorexic girl and crippled guy chat some more as he is passing through. Then you see a flashback of the anorexic girl being sick in a toilet.
It was quite difficult viewing to be honest. I felt sorry for the crippled actor to be that way. Then the play got even more weird and abstract. Both the crippled guy and anorexic girl then start swinging around together in the white curtain. An arty animation plays on the set to represent a dream. After that the Psychiatrist guy comes out again, but this time he is laughing manically, walking on stilts, wearing a big top hat, dark sunglasses, and a large bowtie, to torment the crippled guy.
The play goes on, the crippled guy goes to hospital and has his legs removed, the anorexic girl falls in love with him, there is a bit of a dance routine with him in a wheelchair and with her standing on the wheelchair wearing a skimpy type outfit. They then move to the US and live happily ever after.
When the play ended I was relieved to see that the crippled guy was just acting and that he did not have a problem with his legs like that, which made the viewing of the play not so uncomfortable in the end. Although I found the whole play very odd, I enjoyed seeing it, as it was very different!Related ContentComments on Below Zero |
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