Achtung, Listeners! The Revolution is coming and it comes by way of the newly formed theatre troupe Rock Island Tunnel Co.’s current production of The Tapes: an Immersive Revolution, by local playwright Alexander Richardson and directed by Ben Gougeon which is now playing at The Sound Conservatory located in the former Carnegie Library in downtown Moline.
In our current contentious political climate this dystopian tale is extremely timely and explores what life under a fascist government might look like and is a sort of hybrid between Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Orwell’s 1984. In the playwright’s own words: “It’s important to be putting on a show like The Tapes in an election year…The word ‘fascist’ has been going around a lot…while many people only have a surface level idea of what that really means…in an immersive format, the audience will get a first-hand experience of life under a fascist regime.”
Regular listeners may recall that back in February Gougeon introduced the Quad Cities to “immersive theatre” – meaning the audience is not a passive observer but an active participant. You may also remember my lament that I was just unable to follow the action in that show because multiple scenes took place simultaneously among the Carnegie’s stacks. Not so with this offering. In this show the audience is shepherded through the set to view the action, which is located in the lower level of the building by Gestapo-esque guides – which in itself is emblematic in that it is underground. Audience members are issued identification “papers” to “the nation” which must be carried at all times and ready to present if challenged. I myself was pulled aside by one of the guides, given a password and admonished to make contact with a character named “Vivian.” I hesitate to reveal any more of the action other than there is a resistance movement; the whole idea is for the audience to undergo it for themselves. I will reveal, however, that it is intriguing and visceral, eye-opening and even appropriate for the season of Halloween in that it is more than a little chilling.
Heading up this cast is the well-known to the Quad Cities theatre scene Jeremy Mahr as Yehven, a somewhat timorous member of the resistance who is hiding contraband tapes that the government is hell-bent on finding. He is under scrutiny by government lackey Conrad unnervingly portrayed by Esteban Lopez. The contrast between the frightened Yahven and the cruelly aggressive Conrad is electric. However, they were so intense that I lost most of their dialogue because they fell prey to the intimate space and did not speak loudly enough to be heard; but their intensity was so deep that there was no question what was happening. The rest of the cast was largely but not completely made up of some of the most talented members of Augustana College’s theatre department as well as equally talented community actors.
I urge you to take in this show that will have you talking all the way home.
The Tapes: an Immersive Revolution continues at The Sound Conservatory, 504 – 17th Street in downtown Moline Thursday through Friday, October 17 through 19, October 24 and October 26 all at 7:30 p.m. and a bonus performance on October 26 at 10:00 p.m.
I’m Chris Hicks…break a leg.