Conspiracy, Underbelly Cowgate, review

Though the underlying message of Barrel Organ’s Conspiracy is cryptic, it sure is a lot of fun – leading the audience down rabbit holes and taking genuine risks.

We see buildings, clouds, greenery. We see men with their feet dangling in the air, holding sandwiches and bottles. What we see is Lunch atop a Skyscraper, but we are not just looking at it; we are examining it, searching for clues. Clues for what? Only the cast of Conspiracy will tell, as they take us through their research on the mysteries behind this (in)famous picture.

The three investigators are a well-balanced ensemble, lead by Rose Wardlaw as the perfect control freak, know-it-all. To her sides, Azan Ahmed plays the naive one, while Shannon Hayes is the joker who gives off a cooler vibe. It is a group that weirdly works, and manages to carry the discussion on and on in a chaotic attempt to fight the system – and each other – with pictures, cheap reveals, bluetack and conjectures.

Who is right? Who is wrong? We start to understand pretty soon that they are all losers in this game; when anything and nothing is plausible, reason is lost and truth starts to lose its value. The dynamics of the discussion work most of the time and the cast is obviously strong, but Barrel Organ’s Conspiracy does not give much satisfaction throughout the play: dead ends, ridiculous connections, awkward silences work up until a certain point. But – and it is a big but – the ending is a perfect climax and cleverly manages to put the whole play into perspective.

I am not going to lie, I don’t think I really got the message of the show. Are they attacking capitalism? Conspiracy theorists? The Americans? Elvis? Who knows. It sure is a lot of fun though. Conspiracy goes around in circles, down one rabbit hole after the other, one more absurd than the other. It’s also just a joy to see a young yet so experienced company actually play around with an idea. And props to them for being able to keep up the momentum, always reaching for crazier, more ridiculous heights each time.