Lots of praise for Lotz: THE RIDICULOUS DARKNESS at The Gate Theatre
March 7, 2019
Wolfram Lotz' award winning THE RIDICULOUS DARKNESS had its UK premiere this week at The Gate Theatre. Look at some of the glowing reviews here:
‘What a stunning, subversive and ultimately hopeful piece of work. More like this, please.’
‘Every part of this piece feels deeply thought through – from the foley that initially underscores the piece but eventually rises against it, to the absurdist and modernist sensibility soaking the piece that pokes fun at and harks back to Conrad’s novel.’
‘An absurd and absorbing show clocking in at 100 minutes straight through, you'd be sorely pressed to find anything more riveting or stupendous. Bravo to the Gate for closing off its latest season in style.’
‘A loosely reimagined and wickedly witty take on Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now’
‘It's a brilliant, at times elusive production about the marginalisation of voices and of skin colours in colonial stories that makes a mockery of jocular, weapon-clenching masculinity’
‘The Ridiculous Darkness is both ridiculous and dark. It is a brave and playful piece of direction of Simpson-Pike, the kind of production the theatre scene really does need.’
‘One of the most striking and successful sequences take place in a complete and unusually lengthy blackout, making us uneasy and anticipating the ‘horror’ at the heart of the darkness. What is revealed instead is a great amount of black cassette tapes, tangled on the steps and glistening in the purple UV lighting. It’s beautiful and striking.’
'It’s almost impossible to know where to begin with Wolfram Lotz’s ’The Ridiculous Darkness’ ( …) Maybe, before I tie myself up into sociological knots, I should point out that it is an absolute bloody hoot.'
‘The Ridiculous Darkness settles down as a silly, restless, endlessly visually inventive – great, playful work from designer Rosie Elnile – pricking of the pomposity of Western imperialist endeavour. It is sardonic and political, but also really funny’
‘The Ridiculous Darkness isn’t subtle, but it’s surprising – even disturbing, at times.’
‘The Ridiculous Darkness is an irreverent and feral little journey, this time not to the heart of darkness, but to something else. The ceiling of the Gate Theatre’s space feels somehow closer – everything feels a bit close, from the actors, to the sharp writing, to the quick turns from genuinely disquieting moments to, yes, ridiculousness.’
‘There’s an excellent appreciation for texture here; Lotz’ writing, translated by Daniel Brunet, takes a sometimes ribald, sometimes subtle joy in language.’
‘It is dark, funny and potent stuff’
‘its relevance sounds clearly by the end when actors reflect on narratives beyond Conrad’s, and invite us to think about who tells stories about Africa and who is silenced by them’
