Darkness
The Newtown Library
Sydney, Australia
04 February 2023
Opulently decked out with eclectically curious, gothic-tinged brick-a-brac and restaurated into a venue that swallows ye who dares to enter, Newtown’s heritage listed Library proves to be a locale par excellence for a drama that is inspired by an event in 1816, which saw five protagonists holed up within the confines of the Villa Diodati adjacent Lake Geneva.
Overshadowed by a crisis brought about by one of the largest volcanic events in the history of mankind with implications reminiscent of what we are grappling with in the current day and age, the group of five decides to kill time by each spinning a spooky yarn imbued with inherent truths yet spun from fantastic and morbidly gripping vantage points.
Set in scene in a 360 degree site-specific way that engages the audience from all angles, Darkness embodies the DNA of an immersive experience, which is only further accentuated by how playwright Andrew Bovell connects themes of the past with the present to then project them forward, thereby increasing their intensity manifold.
Dramaturgically excelling with the portrayal of the depths and complexities the emotional worlds of the protagonists harbour and further enhanced by carefully calibrated atmospheric lighting and foreboding sound effects, one cannot help but be transported into an alternative universe at the crux of existentialism, love and death.
Allowing the audience to hang out at The Library’s otherworldly bar to further contemplate and reflect after the performance on the need to be, Darkness is a vibe situated somewhere between the all too familiar universal questions and the unknown.
