'A Machine They're Secretly Building'- Prototype Theatre

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Prototypes’ ‘A Machine They’re Secretly Building’ is a sprint through the idea that at all times, we are under surveillance. The audience walked out of this political performance wanting to throw their phones away, as facts were hurled at us one after another, teaching us that everything we do is monitored, every piece of information is kept, and the government believes this is okay. On 22nd March the company performed the show at Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester.

Edward Snowden has observed: “Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying that you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.”, and this was a poignant message throughout the piece, which really gave us as an audience something to think about.

The performance had an ironic and playful style, as actors Rachel Baynton and Gillian Lees ate secret messages, wrapped each other in cling film, and let balloons free from a filing cabinet, and they produced some lovely imagery throughout the performance, particularly with their simple use of pink balaclavas, which I enjoyed as a symbol. Adam York Gregory’s video presentation provided us with yet another insight, which reinforced the dialogue, and it became a key figure in the piece which provided humorous wit, as well as shocking statistics.

Andrew Westerside’s script maintained an extremely wordy and fact heavy flow, and although many audience members emerged feeling confused at the scale of information thrown at them, I enjoyed this overwhelming content, and felt it made the message of the piece that much more significant. However, I have to admit, at times the information given came across more suitable for a university lecture than a performance, so I would have liked the company to experiment further with their delivery. The vast amount of dialogue was not for everyone, but I did pick up on the way they twisted their information to support their arguments, which was easily missed amongst the bombardment of facts and figures. If considered, their statements my have been more controversially taken, as they failed to take into account the positive uses of the surveillance discussed.  
One thing I have to question, is why, at this level of the shows development, the actresses still relied on scripts? The use of the scripts was clearly choreographed, indicating that it was intentional, but it was unclear for what purpose; perhaps to appear as news readers? All I could say was that it was distracting and weakened the performance somewhat.

Overall this performance was more interesting than exciting. It exposed many truths, not only about the government, but about us as humans, and created an intentionally uncomfortable presence, however the techniques used were not ground breaking, nor were they any different from the work you could see from a university student. I cannot lie and say I disliked the piece, only that I was a little disappointed at the missed opportunities for more engaging content.

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