Theatre Now Review: You’re Not Special

“..the play offers an approach which is both innovative and considered. And director Samantha Young’s sure hand guides the play through this process.…The three performers are engaging and engaged, with Sgouros investing her character with a bewitching focus” – Kate Stratford
4/5 mobile phones

With humour, plot twists and some excellent acting, Sam O’Sullivan’s You’re Not Special takes us down the rabbit hole of iDisorder (or IAD – internet addiction disorder where activities start to interfere with daily life). As an exploration of the ways in which technological “connectedness” is blurring our ability to distinguish between reality and the texture of the abstract, the play offers an approach which is both innovative and considered. And director Samantha Young’s sure hand guides the play through this process.

Dan (Arkia Ashraf) is moving in with Ellie (Kate Skinner) even though they have only known each other a few months because, after all, both their individual rental leases are about to expire. As good a reason as any, apparently. Luring him to put away his phone and laptop in the bedroom makes sex a little challenging for Ellie. Dan becomes intrigued by a stranger (Ariadne Sgouros) he meets in the dog park. Someone who, it seems, is a dog walker, student, intelligent and a reader of print books. As Dan becomes more involved with the stranger and Ellie’s new job makes continuing out-of-hours demands on her; their relationship begins to fracture. But all, it seems, is not as it seems.

It would have been easy for this play to be a simple narrative, but O’Sullivan folds scenes back on themselves, playing with time and banter. There are hints, however, if you are paying attention; else it may seem confusing. Young’s direction places the performers and a bed at the centre of the action. A bed on which phones and laptops are constantly in use. Sex and technology are inextricably fused, as is the e-waste hanging above (design Anna Gardiner). The three performers are engaging and engaged, with Sgouros investing her character with a bewitching focus. Ashraf and Skinner were best in their moments of conflict; it was the stuff of real couples fighting their way through, ironically, their non-connectedness.

Bakehouse at the KXT has developed (and continues to develop) theatre which challenges, offering opportunities for both artists, companies and audiences to share something new – particularly new work offering unusual insights. The approach is not a safe one and the risk-taking is often rewarding for both. This one is worth the one hundred minutes on the KXT’s hard chairs.

As for the title, well, without wanting to spoil anything – in a world of eight billion people, what does it mean to be one in a million?

4/5 mobile phones

Kate Stratford, Theatre Now

You’re not Special is produced by Rogue Projects in association with bAKEHOUSE Theatre co. Find out more at www.rogueprojects.com.au