LUU’S Open Theatre ‘Solarium’: a Review

Rosie Nowosielski review LUU Open Theatre’s ‘Solarium.’

The Open Theatre Society describes itself as ‘the alternative performance society’, who perform ‘experimental’ shows written by students. Solarium is no exception. Written by Harry Daisley, Open Theatre’s publicity secretary, it follows Maximilian as he navigates his way through his dreamworld ‘Avalon’. We follow his descent into the world with his late grandfather, his interactions with the caricatures of Avalon’s inhabitants, as well as his reconnection with old friends, and finally, his exit from Avalon. Although the ensemble cast was small, the performances were strong, especially from the lead Billy Rilot as Maximilian, Amelia Sissons as Dagonette, Avalon’s very own ditsy, Phoebe Buffay, and Chris Louridas, whose portrayal of Max’s grandfather, narrating the play, was outstanding.

Avalon presents itself as an Alice in Wonderland-esque dreamworld, a land of escapism and whimsical personalities, making it reminiscent of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, thanks to the ethereal, fairy-like costume design. It was difficult to achieve a sense of Avalon through the actual set design, consisting of white drapery to cover the stage stairs, but the creative use of props such as blue ribbon and effervescent chiffon to represent the sea and the lampshades and figurines dangling from the ceiling, reinforcing the child-like nature of Avalon, helped make up for what the initial stage design was lacking. The employment of physical theatre was outstanding, whether it was representing the landscape or journeying, as well as the use of multimedia, whether it be loops of artwork or childhood home videos displayed on the screen behind the stage, assisting the portrayal of the land of Avalon itself and presenting the themes of the play. These scenes which displayed the descent into Avalon, with narration and the aforementioned techniques, were the strongest and most interesting and conceptual.

Solarium explored many themes; loss, grief, love, companionship, intimacy, and youth, among others. Masculinity, emotion, body issues, and self-esteem were lightly touched upon. Overall, I believe Solarium is about being ‘king of your own world’, master of your own destiny, and facing your fears, rather than hiding and escaping, to Avalon, for example. This was mainly through the dialogue, rather than the plot itself, through lines such as “running from time” and “safety from decisions”, as well as the declarations of love in the second act; “I would like to spend the passage of time with you”. This is what I personally managed to take from the play, as unfortunately, I think Solarium tried to cover too much and Avalon was apparently many different things, Maximilian’s escape, or an embodiment of his mental illness, the world his grandfather made up for him and his sister, the land between life and death, as well as the afterlife. The plot took many different directions, so it was unclear what Avalon actually was and what took place throughout the 90-minute runtime. Although the audience can always infer, I feel Solarium relied too heavily on this inference, rather than having a strong, convincing plot of its own. 

Words by Rosie Nowosielski