A Review on - In The Chamber 2010: Last Men

Imagine you’re all set to see a play. You’re excited to see the actors interact in front of you as the plot unwinds and you can’t wait to get lost in the show. Well, I have some bad news. If this is the experience you want, you will immediately dislike In The Chamber 2010: Last Men, playing at the Rachel Brown Theatre.

That was me. I was expecting to see a huge production and everything that comes with it like an elaborate set, an expensive lighting display, and more than one actor on stage at a time. What I got, however, was a bare set, a few spot lights, and one man speaking.

Initially, I was unimpressed. I was bored. I was disturbed. If you had asked me immediately after the show what I’d thought I would have said it was one of the worst things I’ve ever had to sit through in my life. My opinion has since changed.

You see, I didn’t know what I was about to watch. My unreal expectations were not met because they were just that, unrealistic. The play I witnessed was really two separate monologues preformed by two separate actors. Each was a speech about a big issue presented in a way that made you think, really think, about it.

Some people during the performance laughed, me not being one of them. I simply didn’t see the humour, but others clearly did. Some people were disgusted with the subject matter, and some were even angry they were watching. The thing is, I’m pretty sure every single person left thinking about the issues raised, and with an emotion ready to erupt.

Watching a monologue for 115 minutes is not my thing, but it was quite a thing to have experienced. How talented the actors must have been to cleverly evoke such diverse emotions within their viewers.