Words: Elodie Marriott
4 stars
Intense, claustrophobic, and deeply immersive, The Insider’s experimental use of sound perfectly captures the seductive and destructive power of wealth.
Based on a true story about billion pound fraud, this one-man play has a non-linear structure comprised of three parts: his beginnings as a lawyer, breakneck monologues detailing how the crime is executed, and the interrogation after he hands himself in. The journey of his increasing greed and inevitable downfall is portrayed visually through his physicality: his dominant, controlled posture deteriorating into twitching shoulders and groaning that escapes him involuntarily.
The audience wears headphones for the entire performance. We’re subjected to echoey sniffs and the gruesome cracking of knuckles. The audio is inescapable and at times almost unbearably loud. This cleverly forces us to empathise with the lawyer and the unavoidability of his punishment. This confinement is also enhanced through the set design: a transparent box that he paces like a caged tiger.
The Insider is a weighty commentary on white-collar crime that succeeds in placing its viewers right where it wants them.
The Insider
King Dome, Pleasance Dome
13:30
1- 24 Aug