★★★1/2
Adelaide Fringe. Boyslikeme Productions. Holden Street Theatres. 8 Mar 2022
Fringe festival fun and games. There’s nothing like a truly lateral, existential play the performance of which is prefaced by the director asking the audience not to give away the plot. There’s a curly twist that should not be revealed to the next audience.
New Zealand playwright Gary Henderson has received plaudits for this play which some call a whodunnit and others simply don’t know what to call it or what to make of it.
An Unseasonable Fall of Snow is, as director Darrin Redgate touts it, “a puzzle”.
There are two principals: Arthur, the interrogator and Liam, the interrogated. The play opens with Arthur pressuring Liam to admit to whatever it was he did the night before and Liam stressing his innocence. Arthur is the man with the power, but what power he has is unclear. The victim-cum-culprit’s status also is a matter of seeming ambivalence. And there is a torrent of dialogue to eke it out; old-school interrogation style with endless cups of coffee. If one thinks one knows what is actually going on, one clearly has lost the plot.
This is the essence of fringey Fringe theatre. Under Redgate’s direction, it is a taut piece. Redgate was responsible for that hit production Next Fall at Holden Street last year. Perchance he has a thing for falls. Certainly he is a stylish director and, while one cannot say one is crazy about this oblique play, he elicited compelling performances from both Gavin Cianci as Arthur and Jacob Houston as Liam.
Samela Harris
When: 8 to 20 Mar
Where: Holden Street Theatres
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
