(photography - Jack Dent)
Camus' play, started before WW2 and performed after it, looks at the most infamously insane Roman Emperor of them all and how he exercised his absolute power - starting after the death of his sister/lover Drusilla, we see him start toying with the people around him, exercising his whims, using a perverse kind of logic to turn all the citizens of Rome against him. Isaiah Prichard's production brings us a richly designed pageant of decadence, power games and carefully rationalised insanity in a feast for the eyes and the mind.
Leading the cast is Mischa Rippon as Caligula - he's a compelling presence whether completely silent on his first entrance, ranting and railing, deconstructing those around him or indulging himself in dance, godhood or sexuality. Around him, Tash Lyall as his enabling wife Caesonia impresses with her calm engagement in his madness, simultaneously amused and compelled by his actions. Dan Fonn Prichard's Helicon has a grand contempt for the Roman citizenry as Caligula's majordomo of misrule - there's a clowning power to his actions. Alex Elwood and Amy Gottschalk as two of the citizens who stand against Caligula are simultaneously compelling victims and counterplotters with their own agendas.
Kathleen Kershaw's set design is maybe the most epic I've seen in the ACT Hub space - dominated by a large face of Caligula, using various marble-esque set elements and with striking enhancements throughout increasing the richness of the setting. Alex Elwood's costume designs are eclectic and fascinating, starting with a simple mostly-white palate and then exploding across eras and styles into a feast for the eyes. Paris Scharkie's compositions increase the urgency underneath the finale as madness stretches to breaking point.
This is a compelling new company performing an active, impressive production of an underexplored absurdist classic, and is absolutely worth your time.
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