R/Conspiracy – Gilded Balloon
Merging the real world with the realms of the world wide web, R/Conspiracy - written and performed by Ella Hällgren, directed by Emma Ruse - sees Alex, a young girl in her twenties become fascinated by a thread on Reddit suggesting a man with machete has been spotted in the local area. Clearly distracting herself from problems in her life, she becomes obsessed with investigating the so-called ‘machete man’ leading her further and further into the online mystery.
Hällgren, who plays Alex, has a lovely brightness to her performance. It is clear to the audience that she’s really enjoying being on stage and speaking the words she has written. However, R/Conspiracy suffers from a big issue in regard to pacing. There is a lot of rise and fall in the piece’s energy levels, so much so that ...