Jan. 27, 2022

Touching the Void (MTC Melbourne, Australia) Review

Theatre First Episode 310
Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly).
Touching The Void – MTC , Melbourne, Australia
Based on a true story, Touching the Void will transport you to the snow-capped peaks and glacial...

Theatre First Episode 310
Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly).
Touching The Void – MTC , Melbourne, Australia
Based on a true story, Touching the Void will transport you to the snow-capped peaks and glacial crevasses of the Peruvian Andes for a jaw-dropping adventure starring Helpmann Award winner Lucy Durack alongside Joe Klocek and Karl Richmond.
For more information visit: https://www.mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/whats-on/season-2022/touching-the-void/
For more Theatre reviews from Alex, visit https://www.bitesz.com/show/theatre-first/

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Transcript

Touching the Void (MTC) AI Transcript

[00:00:00] Alex First: A near death experience is revealed as an adventure story in MTCs comedic drama, touching the void that kicks off its 2022 season. The vehicle is the wake in a Scottish pub for climate Joe played by Joe clonic. It's being orchestrated by his potty mouth sister, Sarah Lucy, Dereck attending other two members of Joe's party on the fateful expedition that claimed his.

Simon Kevin health Bower was his climbing partner while Richard Carl Richmond remained at base camp. Neither of them knew Joe well suffice to say the tragedy occurred while on a climb in the Peruvian Andes. In the first instance, Joe broke his leg and it was all downhill from there with the weather, having a frightful impact, Joe ended up falling into a crevasse.

And acerbic, Sarah wants answers. She'd like to know what the attraction of climbing is and how the accident happened. So Simon sets about showing her step by step. In reality, though, there's only one question that demands an answer, and that is, is Joe really dead based on a 1988 book of the same name by Joe Simpson.

The true story behind touching the void has been adapted for the stage by David. It was made into a docu-drama in 2003 and had its world premiere as a show in the UK in 2018. Although I generally warm to survival stories, I can't say I particularly took to touching the void. I simply didn't think there was enough substance to this interpretation.

I didn't appreciate the humor all that much, which in large part, I regarded as pure. As for Joe's fight for survival. It was an ordeal and labored, no pun intended. I found touching the void tedious and did a lot of clock watching, even though the whole piece was only 100 minutes without.

Another thing that irked me was too many detailed references to climbing equipment, which I felt was unnecessary. Well, not finding fault with the casts acting ability. I query the lightweight treatment of the subject matter. And while I don't doubt the incident that inspired the play was harrowing.

Having seen touching the void I'm far from convinced that it lends itself to a stage adaptation. My mind turned to a movie about another tragic incident in the end. Alive that came out in 1993, for me, that worked in ways, touching the void.

Didn't not withstanding that it was in a different way. The best thing about this play was the staging set designer. Andrew Bailey has created an elaborate metal structure to replicate a mountain.

It's atop that that much of the action unfolds. I'm afraid that touching the void directed by Petra Khalif did not hold my attention. It's playing at south bank theater, the Sumner in Melbourne until the 19th of February, 2022.