The spectre of death surrounds Pan Pan’s latest foray into Beckett’s radio dramas, this time Embers. A giant wooden skull grins out at the audience, dimly lit. Voices from ghosts demanding to be heard reverberate around the dark, black space. Embers of humanity are dissected in grim and gripping detail. The lost and confused voice of Henry, who sits on a beach, vainly trying to contact his dead father, barks angrily, and at times with a deep sadness. The gentle blue green lights thats flutter across the stones of the theatre combined with the gentle and constant sounds of the sea serve to immerse the audience in the auditory experience, trapping us inside the radio. Hanging from the stage are dozens of speakers, and behind the eyes of the giant skull voices examine the shreds and remnants of lives lived. Henry and his wife Ada desperately try to remember their shared lives, sometimes failing, sometimes remembering only the most upsetting and confusing thoughts. Unsure of where there daughter is, or what age she is, they lament over her cries and the child’s scream echoes around us. The horse’s tormenting hooves, and the violent drips of water sound like a veritable death knell. The spectre of death is ever-present.
A radio play necessitates in creating an absence of the visual, but in the staging of the voices, director Gavin Quinn has created a visual and auditory experience that both traps and confronts the audience. In a masterful display of subtle lighting and, at times, truly terrifying sound design, this performance is one that will haunt an audience. The grimace of the skull seems almost manic as the lights fade to an imperceptable glow, and when Henry finally remembers how to laugh, it seems that the skull itself is laughing at you.
Runs until the 17th August. Book tickets.
