The 8th Wave is an involving, thought-provoking production, which includes moments both harrowing and beguiling in its telling. Upon walking into the auditorium – a spectacular former church – the audience is subjected to an arresting first image; that of a boy tied to a chair in a shop workroom. When the action starts, with an older man entering in a dressing gown to eat breakfast, our interest is already piqued.
We don’t find out the reason why the boy is tied to the chair for quite some time, keeping an underlying intrigue and adding to the tautness of the dramatic pace. It becomes clear quickly though that the elder man has tied him there, and the dynamics between the trapped but cerebrally agile scally lad and his free but mentally boxed-in trapper carry a weight to the characters. We alternatively sympathise with the lost, lonely man and empathise with the scared boy at his mercy, boxing with his wits for time.
The play is wordy and you need to concentrate; it’s not advisable to turn up after four quick pints in the pub, or expecting an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza. But its value, if you do concentrate, is very much inherent in its design and you may leave feeling a whirlwind of issues to give further thought to. Each time also it surfs near to the dangerous rapids of falling too far into its own introspection, a jolt of electrifying action is injected, often relating close to the elder character’s possible repressed homosexuality.
All in all, first time writer James Ernest, director Don McCamphill and their two talented actors have created a succinct, clever production that should keep its attentive audience hooked from its start.
• Check out our interview with ‘The 8th Wave’ writer James Ernest on the QX Blog: qxmagazine.kinsta.cloud/blog-event/james-ernest/
