Another One is one of the five shows part of the ‘Big in Belgium’ programme at this year’s fringe festival, created and performed by Lobke Leirens and Maxim Storms, both graduates from the KASK School of Arts in Belgium.
The main word that comes to mind when looking back on this show is ‘enigmatic’. As you enter the hall, you are met by a large teepee at the back of stage right (which is only used as a large light to show a change in setting halfway through the show, which I personally thought was a waste of what could have been more of an impactful piece of set), and a table and two chairs at the back of stage left.
The two actors then emerge and immediately show influence from mime and physical theatre and remain silent for a good ten minutes. However, after this a fast-paced chain of games, events and abusive behaviour ensues between the two. The piece is very much interpretive, and instead of providing you with a straightforward explanation, it invites you to make your own assumptions and hypotheses.
To me, from the old-fashioned costumes and the hesitance and lost nature of the two characters, I gathered that the piece was showing a hateful, yet codependent, relationship that is denaturing further from old age. This can be seen by the competitive nature in Leirens character during the card games and Storms nonchalant brutality in the games they play in which they deliberately hurt each other.
Leirens & Storms’ performances immediately pull the audience into the dark world of their characters’ dark relationships. The repetitiveness of some of their mannerisms and activities throughout the piece makes it more uncomfortable as it progresses, presenting to the audience the toxicity of their day to day lives and they inhabit their elderly personas so effortlessly, to the point that I was actually shocked to see how young they actually were as they took their bows.
Another One is a very enigmatic piece, and it’s difficult to describe without giving away most of what happens. However, what I can say that this is a mesmerising, haunting display of brilliant international theatre and would encourage anyone to go and see what they take away from it.
