ED2016 4/5 Reviews ED2016 Theatre Reviews

World Without Us (Ontroerend Goed / Theatre Royal Plymouth / Vooruit / Richard Jordan Productions / Summerhall)

By Jon Stapley | Published on Monday 15 August 2016

If someday humans simply disappeared – no fanfare, no apocalypse, just gone – what would happen to the world? This is the question exhaustively answered here by Ontroerend Goed. Two actors alternate for this one-person show – I was treated to Valentijn Dhaenens’ exquisite, melodious delivery as he meticulously detailed how the space we occupied would change with total human absence. It challenges us to do the impossible: respond to the unknowable, see beauty or horror in something that can only exist when these concepts no longer do. ‘World Without Us’ will definitely divide opinion. One person gave it a tearful standing ovation; another, clearly bored, snuck out. Personally, I thought it beautiful and bleak and strange and intoxicating all at once.

Summerhall, until 28 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Jon Stapley]