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Terry Serio in Under Ice ... a bemused and vaguely tragic figure.

POSTED: 25 AUGUST 2009

Under Ice, by Falk Richter, translated by David Tushingham

(Griffin Independent & spiky red things | Stables Theatre, Darlinghurst, Sydney | Until 12 Sep)

This year has seen the launch of an exciting innovation at Griffin, adding to its reputation as THE venue in Sydney for showcasing contemporary Australian playwriting. Griffin Independent now extends this vision worldwide, allowing the talents of a broad range of independent theatre companies the opportunity to bring new international plays to Australian audiences.

Under Ice is the second play of a four-part cycle, The System, by prolific and groundbreaking German playwright Falk Richter. Richter explores the consequences of market globalisation, the drive for material success at the expense of personal identity, life balance and humanity, and the increasing influence of the media.

Paul Niemand (Terry Serio) has been ‘rationalised’. His ‘personal effectiveness’ is still good, but the ‘bottom line’ is that he’s just not as productive as his consultancy company executives would like, not able to ‘think outside the box’. Too young to retire and too old to start over. He is in limbo.

It’s said that if you fall through the ice on a frozen expanse of water, there is enough air between the water and the ice to survive until you are rescued or reach a way out — if the cold doesn’t get to you first. For Niemand there is no rescue. Losing his job leaves him invisible, irrelevant, frozen.

Director Kellie MacKereth has engaged a brilliant cast to realise Richter’s clever, biting, and some would say bleakly prophetic script. The actors move seamlessly from astoundingly powerful monologues to the bizarre and farcical.

Serio’s Niemand is a bemused and vaguely tragic figure. He leads us through stories from his life — deliberately not boarding a flight to continue hearing his name announced over the intercom — and we wince at his humiliation as younger colleagues Charlie Sunshine (Jason Langley) and Aurelius Glasnip (Adam Booth) evaluate his performance (40 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively).

The final blow comes as Niemand witnesses the child prodigy (a wonderfully deadpan Paris Change on the night I viewed, alternated with Sebastian Stewart) mentored on the path to ‘success’.

The monochromatic set, dominated by the sleek conference table, is ideal for the space and mood of the production. Mathew MacKereth’s superb digital design frames and complements the action beautifully.

The laughter from the audience revealed the relevance and universality of Richter’s words — and having spent some time myself in an environment that employed many of the catchphrases of corporate vision and efficiency, I would guess that just as many also shuddered in recognition.

And for anyone who has ever suffered the ignominy of team-building exercises, Niemand’s account of the compulsory Lion King reenactment at the company Christmas party may cut a little too close to the bone!

Peppered with lyrical soliloquies, absurdist moments, and uncomfortably familiar and plausible scenarios, Under Ice is a moving and timely study of isolation within the global community.