SURFACING at Vault Festival - Shy, Strange, Manic

NHS therapist Luc is fine. Honest. She’s definitely not overwhelmed by meeting Owen, a new client, definitely not freaked out by what she’s started seeing, definitely doesn’t think her reality has been punctured and something else is leaking in. Luc goes for a swim and feels a hand dragging her down to the bottom of the lake…

When she surfaces, her reality is different. She’s haunted by tormented mice, shape-shifting people, and secrets she thought she’d buried.

In this breath-taking new two-hander, motion sensor tech combines with motion-responsive video design and composition to create a contemporary Through the Looking Glass world.

SURFACING, on now at the Vault Festival, is a show about mental health, how the NHS treats it and grief, but sadly its innovative use of audiovisuals doesn’t do enough to lift the story behind it.

What works well in the show is its use of audiovisual technology, not only as a method of storytelling but also the choice to have all performances presented as relaxed, audio described and captioned which given the set up of this show makes perfect sense. While the A.V wasn’t set up perfectly it’s design and use were imaginative and effectively used, with different screens and gauze projected onto to show Luc’s internal thoughts expressing her unravelling mind. Similarly, the layered sounds provided a great otherworldly feeling and helped add to the feeling of Luc’s breakdown.

Unfortunately, the storyline itself is just missing some depth. It’s a show that I feel could be fleshed out into something more than what it is but for now, the story falls a bit flat. It provides some great potential in its criticism of the NHS’s reliance on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and its use in treating mental illnesses of all kinds for its ‘service users’ but sadly this isn’t explored deeply enough.

Overall this show has some potential it just needs some work. Surfacing is on at Vault Festival until the 19th of February.