Corpse Flower
It is a woman’s lot to be told what is to happen to her without consultation, to be bargained away for the sum of one shilling and a donkey, Millie’s suitor Mister Horst having travelled to meet her only to be deferred by her father Gunther who wishes to haggle, though it is unlikely that should her asking price be upped, Horst claiming that he has estates back home, that any of the cash will flow towards her or mother, sickly and in need of medicine…
A woman with ideas of her own, in shadow Millie converses with her mother of escape and with her friend Peskov she plots revolution, but nothing is ever so simple as the plans that are made in whispers, bitter Madame Critch controlling the precious medicine and unlikely to offer it gratis, not even to family, and another more sinister infiltration taking place in the dark city, insidious, moving on many legs and delicate wings, the insects which will overwhelm them…
Written by Michal Vojtech and Ariel de la Garza Davidoff and directed by Ilya Wray, the five strong cast of Corpse Flower includes Medea Manaz as Millie, Raphael Ruiz as Gunther, Matthew Rowan as Horst, the men presenting silent movie excess in movement and expression while she is more natural and graceful, Lola Knight as Madame Critch, resplendent in her red robes and rage, and Alexandros Fragkos as Peskov.
A former ship captain decorated with medals, perhaps even one of those travellers who brought the infestation to the city, he lacks the means to implement his intentions, and Corpse Flower similarly struggles to convey its story, the visual aesthetic of the grotesque shadow box overwhelming narrative clarity, the realisation of the transformations of the characters into servants of the many-legged queen impressive but in service of a sluggish plot fractured by frequent cumbersome scene changes.
Corpse Flower continues at the C Aquila on Johnston Terrace until Sunday 25th August
