Delta P opens with the curious, unsettling sight of three bodies in sleeping bags on stage. This Lonely Dodo production takes us into a dystopian future, one where the effects of climate change are both real but also not without their beauty.
As Eve (Saskia Campbell-Crossfield) observes, the river might have burst its banks, but the birds are enjoying it. The world is flooding but instead of delving into the devastation, Delta P instead tells the story of three men; Callum (Finn O’Riordain), Miguel (Rafael Merchan-Granizo) and Leo (Gabriel Ross) working three quarters of a kilometre under the sea to decommission one of the last oil rigs in operation for a distant yet overbearing cooperation.
Miguel, Callum and Leo each have troubles back home. Their work provides an escape from it, while literally keeping them away from the devastation of the planet.
Delta P has a timely premise, and each of these men’s stories is potentially compelling. They either have something to hide or that they are running away from. The pressurised conditions under which they are working provides the perfect opportunity to build on unresolved tensions and reveal human truths.
But instead, the audience is left hanging with the possibilities of different story threads without enough time devoted to actually telling them. It is here that Delta P, which is a work-in-process piece, could do with the most development.
Still, Lonely Dodo’s staging is effective. Its use of multimedia highlighted the surreal conditions the men were working under, receiving instructions from a disembodied voice that claimed to care for them but clearly did not. The voice – a commandeering ‘Siri’-style presence – pushed them through their days and brutal routines.
The intimate setting of the Pit in the Vault Festival worked to support the cramped sense of these three men working in tight conditions and entirely dependent on each other for their survival.
Lonely Dodo convincingly created the inside of the oil rig on a shoestring. It was clear they carried out a lot of research which believably replicated working lives we don’t usually get to see. What was missing was the depth of story to draw us fully into the characters’ worlds.
VAULT Festival 2023 runs Tuesday 24th January to Sunday 19th March, full listings and ticket information can be found here.
This review was written by a participant of the VAULT Festival New Critics Programme in partnership with Theatre Weekly. For more information about the VAULT Festival New Critics Programme, and all of our 2023 participants, please visit: https://vaultfestival.com/new-critics-programme/
