REVIEW — Let It Stain by InMotion Theatre Company
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
By Mariana Nechaieva
Imagine a bright, summer afternoon. You’re walking through crowded and loud Camden on your way to a play at one of the many cafes on the high street — the Libra Theatre Cafe in our case. Upon reaching the venue, you present your tickets and head downstairs.
The second you step into the basement, you feel as if you got accidentally teleported into another world, another dimension even. The music is playing, but not too loudly or quietly — just the right volume. The intimate and dimly lit space very soon becomes busy with people, however everyone is too excited for the performance to chat with one another. I’m not sure which would give the greater effect: knowing what you’re about to watch or coming with no expectations at all. Thus I can compare this pre-show excitement to going to an escape room with your friends: thrilling and nerves-wracking. And then, when you think that it can’t be any darker, the lights turn off completely. The monologue starts in a soft voice.
Being a part of the Camden Fringe Festival, the dark comedy Let It Stain follows a driven to despair woman, who is about to end her life on a bridge. A stranger intervenes. As they embark on a journey through the city, they meet people from all walks of life, and these encounters lead them to a deep exploration of longing and connection in a world full of violence.
I don’t want to spoil the whole show, as I hope it’s going to be performed again elsewhere. What I do want to share is how raw, emotional, creative, and brutally honest it was. The tiny basement was transformed to show different locations, emotional states, and lives — some real, and some existing only in the main character’s mind. A young InMotion’s cast played incredibly well, while the lighting fantastically highlighted them as they cry loudly, laugh hysterically, sing sorrowfully, and love passionately.
Somewhere closer to the middle of the show the room got really stuffy and considering the surrounding darkness I probably wouldn’t recommend the experience to people with claustrophobia. Strobing lights are merciless as well. However, all this ties with the themes of the show so nicely that these inconveniences almost become unpaid actors (as do the underground trains that pass somewhere very close to the venue and create additional special effects of micro-earthquakes and low rambling).
The true meaning of the play gets to you only upon exiting the venue: when after being in the tight, dark space you climb up the stairs and see the light of the day and feel a cooling wind all over your face. You find yourself back in Central London, with millions of people and opportunities around. So even though the performance discussing grim themes lasts for just about an hour, in a short time it somehow manages to get to you and, paradoxically, to open your eyes to the beauty of this world. Interesting turn for a dark comedy, isn’t it?
[Photo by Daniele Balsyte]
