Jake Mace
In the deep throes of the night, Alex has chugged a can of energy drink and is deep-diving into her hometown’s local subreddit – the mission, unpack the latest local mystery. When a chance interaction with a seemingly ludicrous post about a man carrying a machete in a local park goes awry, she finds herself tossed into an upside down world where suspicion lies around every corner, and just being able to keep up with her every day life becomes impossible.
Alex finds herself scouring Google Maps for the exact location a blurry photo was taken, and eagerly dives into a chat with u/Hipnotic – a stranger also obsessed with this mystery. As the pair meet up they find themselves on the heels of the elusive machete man, and drawn towards an abandoned house, you suddenly can’t help but feel like all that comes next is out of their hands, and far deeper than them.
Alongside the more expansive plotline diving into our relationship with the internet and whispers spreading through our networks, we see snippets of Alex’s more mundane life working at a cinema in town, a burgeoning and tricky flirtationship with her supervisor, and continual interventions from her phone about a missed call from her Mum. It’s a dizzying set of events presented discontiguously and not always to the benefit of Hällgren’s storytelling.
The main narrative is delivered with wide-eyed glee from Hällgren, and her storytelling is immersive, impressive and gripping throughout in terms of form, style and presentation. Alex is a well-developed character, who elicits a great deal of sympathy in terms of her slightly manic habits, dissatisfaction with the normalcy of the 9-5, and complicated family situation. Alex is our lens to this down-the-rabbit-hole world, and her quips and observations about the odd people she begins bumping into get a great laugh alongside the more serious themes, which are done with a light touch.
When the main plot unravels towards the end, I felt it lacked the punch or depth I was hoping would develop at the pace and intrigue shown in the first act of the piece. It felt as though the plot may be building towards a big reveal which never arrives. Nonetheless, this is a very enjoyable hour of storytelling that packs in personal themes that will be relatable to anyone whose found themselves caught in an online spiral in the early hours of the morning wondering “how did I get here?” and “why am I so invested in this?”. Themes of queerness and longterm illness are also handled diligently and candidly.
The staging provides a great sense of atmosphere as you walk in at the beginning – with trails of LED lights wrapped around branches and roots all across the stage – while they are decorative they do prove greatly atmospheric. A set of boxes are utilised well to achieve different levels and for Hällgren to leap around the stage. These levels are greatly needed as unfortunately sight lines in this venue were not to the production’s advantage.
Ella Hällgren’s show for ‘chronically online messy girls’ is wonderfully told and deeply sympathetic for how a yearning for purpose and a predilection for the salacious can take over our lives.
Recommended Drink: Pair this with 1-3 cans of energy drink (is it illegal for me to suggest that?)
You can catch r/Conspiracy until August 24th (not the 12th or 19th) at Ruby at Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower from 15:00 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Lamesha Ruddock
Jasmine Silk
