The
tobacco warehouse which
Shunt use for
Money is less cavernous and sprawling than their extraordinary old venue
Shunt Vaults, but it is used very differently. In front of the audience stands a huge towering, industrial metal construction -- one that wouldn't look out of place in the industrial revolution.
Oil dripping, clanking, lights flickering, we wonder what
this machine exactly is. Then we are walking up the wrought-iron steps, avoiding the water, oil and dirt, into the heart of this terrifying machine. Terrifying indeed, and for the first minute the noise, heat and claustrophobia are almost unbearable. Then everything is whipped away and we are in a smart, business-like waiting room.
Shunt has created a fantastic machine for this performance and they use and transform it effortlessly. Floors merge into one another, and we
watch the scenes, bizarre as they are, from every angle. Loosely based on
L'argent by
Emile Zola, the audience is made aware of parallels with
bankers, the future, the present, and a
collapse of order.
Money is
important -- as one character says, "the future will be expensive, but we can afford it". This performance
barrages your senses and
leaves you wondering whether the future really will look like that.
NB: runs till 25/09.