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| Are you game?, photo courtesy of Visit London |
I almost
didn’t recognize the Almeida Theatre as I made my way, not to a particular
seat, but to a zone for Mike Bartlett’s play, Game. Each audience member was allocated to a different zone with
its own unique vantage point. I was handed a set of headphones and entered a confined
space decked out in camouflage. A cushioned seat and three television screens
greeted me, along with my fellow viewers, who sat a little too close for
comfort. I would soon learn that grazing arms with the person next to me would
not be the most invasive encounter of the evening.
The
shutters previously obscuring my view opened and introduced a couple in their
new home. With my headphones nestled securely to my head, I tuned in to the
voices of Carly (Jodie McNee) and Ashley (Mike Noble). Suddenly, I was no
longer an avid audience member, but a voyeur in the most Hitchcock way
imaginable. The set, or should I say house, was very cleverly devised. It had
all of the elements of a “dream house:” a kitchen that spilled into the living
room, a spiral staircase, a hot tub, and lots of open space.
Meanwhile,
my headphones were picking up sounds from elsewhere, sounds that synchronized
with what the television sets were broadcasting. It became apparent that I was looking
at audience members seated in separate zones, while the actors made their
rounds to each one. Not only were we watching then, but we were also being watched by unseen strangers, veiled
under a cloak of camouflage.
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| Carly (Jodie McNee) and Ashley (Mike Noble) move into their "dream house," photo courtesy of Keith Pattison |
Before I
viewed Game, there was an air of
mystery surrounding it, because I like to approach the theatre by keeping
myself in the dark. That’s not to say that I don’t do my research before
attending a production, but I tend to restrict my amount of knowledge
pertaining to the play. Reading other reviews only clouds my own judgment and I
like to enter the theatre with an open mind. I have to say, Game was not what I was expecting at
all.
Encased
in their glass “cage,” Carly and Ashley became subhuman, as if I were watching
animals in a zoo. As they engaged in mundane tasks like putting away groceries
or more intimate exchanges such as arguments, I felt overwhelmingly
uncomfortable. Most unnerving of all to witness was perhaps the sex, because I
was invading this couple’s privacy, along with all of the other wide-eyed
peeping Toms surrounding me. To put it bluntly, we all watched their child’s
moment of conception.
You’re
probably wondering what’s the catch. Well, whenever things seem too good to be
true, they probably are. Carly and Ashley were afforded their dream house in a housing crisis under
one condition: they had to agree to be “game.” Paying customers would take
shots at them with tranquilizer darts as they pleased, but the couple would never be forewarned as to when the shots would come. When their son was born, he was
placed on the market and he dropped to the floor just like his parents, but
with even more ease.
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| The voyeur's view, photo courtesy of Keith Pattison |
In my
zone, a group of girls stumbled in during drunken mid-birthday celebrations.
They thought it would be fun to take aim at Carly over and over again. Their
complete lack of empathy was jarring, but it made me think of something. When
humans hunt animal “game,” this same callousness and complete disregard for
life is also present. Only when confronted with the reality of the human
equivalent do we see the barbarity of something like trophy hunting.
When we
watch animals having sex, fighting, or with their young, we find it amusing. Yet,
people have also become “game,” open to public consumption. Take the example of
television series Big Brother, where
people tune in to watch the lives of others in an enclosed house. I’ve never
been able to grasp why this constitutes entertainment, but then we all have our
own ideas of fun.
I began
to feel a bit claustrophobic, a bit panicked, as Game neared its impactful end. That was the point when conscience
and ethics tag teamed and made their appearance in the play. Carly and Ashley
decided that they needed to leave the “dream” behind, because the risk was
becoming greater than the reward. David (Kevin Harvey), the man responsible for
manning the station with the tranquilizer gun, entered the house for the first
time. Carly and Ashley’s son didn’t want to leave and he was quivering
underneath a cardboard box.
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| Photo courtesy of Keith Pattison |
The
little boy had become very fond of a solider game on a handheld electronic
device, so David managed to coax him out by giving him instructions and
addressing him as "Soldier." Haunting, ghostly images of real military soldiers were
suddenly projected onto the walls of the house and the static in my headphones
became too much to bear. As a military brat, I felt overcome with emotion. The
play’s program featured an article with a newspaper headline reading: “More
British soldiers commit suicide than die in battle, figures suggest.” When
David was left alone, presumably a former solider himself, he turned the
tranquilizer gun on himself as we watched him die. Game over.
Most of
us are familiar with the character Jigsaw from the Saw horror movie franchise. He
is often quoted as chillingly asking his victims, “Would you like to play a
game?” before they either die or manage to survive one of his sadistic tasks.
That’s what life is all about: survival. Bartlett forces the issue out into the
open with his thought-provoking play.
The
“game” is really referring to the game of life, which is also the name of a
board game. Again, we can play pretend in a make-believe world for a while,
imitating ourselves. The board game mimics real life, with options such as a
career, college, marriage, and children. Let’s not forget one of my personal
favorites either, The Sims. War-based
video game Call of Duty is not in
fact the real deal, the real battlefield. We don’t have multiple lives or
do-overs in reality. If you can make it through each day, if you can learn how
to play the real game of life, you’ll
come out on top as a winner.
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| Photo courtesy of Keith Pattison |
