Striptease & Out at Sea

20th Century Polish playwright Sławomir Mrożek may not be a name that many UK theatregoers are familiar with, but his unsettling and absurdist political drama cannot fail to make an impact.

In Vanishing Point’s production, each short play centres around a simple but disturbingly powerful concept. In Striptease, two men find themselves inexplicably confined in a small room, where a sinister disembodied presence, appearing in the form of a single white arm, compels them gradually to remove items of clothing. The dialogue initially feels a bit clunky, perhaps due to the translation, but the actors deliver acute and convincing performances that perfectly convey the moral and ideological panic caused by the scenario. The claustrophobic studio theatre could not be a more appropriate setting in which to immerse the audience in the raw terror of having nowhere to hide.   

 After a slightly awkward transition between performances, Out at Sea lifts the sombre mood with a more comedy-focused but equally disturbing plotline. Three men adrift on a raft in the middle of the ocean realize that their only chance of survival is for one of them to be eaten by the others. In the surreal negotiations that follow, the play exposes the hypocrisy, irony and malice that underpin such power-play. The balance between rollicking action and deeper ideological considerations is well-maintained in the performance, and the originality of the staging combined with the acting skill ensure that there’s never a dull moment.

The production proves the timelessness of Mrożek’s ideas, and there’s no escaping the uncanny resonance of the two plays.   

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Vanishing Point: Striptease and Out at Sea, Citizens Theatre (run ended)