Jennifer Ludlam, Jess Sayers, Tryvge Wakenshaw and Richard Te Are contemplate life, love and the universe in Mr Red Light. Photo / Andi Crown
It's hard to know where to begin with Mr Red Light, largely because it's a play that refuses to be boxed in. The latest creation from writer Carl Bland, director Ben Crowder and theatre company Nightsong is one of the most surreal, beautiful, hysterical and outrageously original shows to grace
an Auckland stage this year, a bombastic tale that leaps between ideas and concepts in a maddening, tightly constructed 90-minute joyride.
It begins simply enough in a branch of chain pie shop "Jokers", where the cashier known only as Joker (Richard Te Are) struggles to chat up sharp-tongued customer Chrys (Jess Sayer), interrupted constantly by demanding elderly regular Eva (Jennifer Ludlam).
It's a low-key, sitcom-like opener, the calmest part of the show before an attempted bank robber bursts into the store and holds the trio hostage. The titular "Mr Red Light" marks a welcome return to Auckland by Trygve Wakenshaw. He proves why he has become such a hit on the international festival circuit, delivering a tour de force performance as the tragic clown who is as annoyed by the situation as those he's holding hostage.
He brings much of the comedy despite having a gun in hand, though the show is ceaselessly funny, parodying cop drama tropes mixed with a plethora of sight gags and bizarre asides (Simon Ferry shows up in various cameos, most notably as a lonely ant caught up in the drama).
Yet the genius in Bland's script lies comes from the pathos of his characters. As the hostage drama drags out, all four characters reflect on their lives and how they've reached this point, their terrifying, tense situation drawing out their best selves. Ludlam, in particular, shines as the widowed Eva, committing fully to the play's surreal seriousness, seen best when delivering a powerful speech comparing life to a dungball.
