Baldanders

Try as you might, it's nearly impossible to describe the plot of Baldanders. An educated guess would have it that as something to do with the eponymous evil spirit with a penchant for demonic possession being locked up by a man who apparently has two heads. The whole thing, for all its artistic panache and technical brilliance, is unnecessarily hard to follow.

This is really the central failing of distinguished Polish theatre company Kompania Doomsday’s latest production. The dialogue from the two human actors and their supporting cast of puppets is unclear and sometimes completely random. Because of this, entire scenes fail to make sense. A deeply confusing narrative is created which is simply not fair to the viewer.

That said, the saving graces of this play are impressive indeed. The performances are both enthralling, with lead man Marcin Bikowski able to pull off the amazing feat of being two characters onstage at once with the help of his puppets. Despite their unclear motivations, the characters become strangely compelling later on in the play. The music and lighting serve to create a credibly dark, brooding atmosphere which puts many other Festival shows to shame.

Perhaps most of all, the play succeeds in having moments which genuinely scare the audience. Bikowski leaps about his onstage cage with unnatural agility, his malevolent demeanour making his demonic character all too real.

Yet for all the acrobatic elegance of the performers, this is a clumsy and perplexing production.