Future Loves Burning / Age Of Extremes review | The Motley Bauhaus

The Motley Bauhaus houses three performance spaces, but that still is not enough for Tim Wotherspoon’s Future Loves Burning / Age Of Extremes. The writer-director has deemed the existing areas insufficient and instead taken over the entire venue for these two one-act plays. The result is a sprawling, chaotic and deliberately overwhelming experience that pulls the audience through shifting worlds of heightened language, absurdity and backstage dysfunction.

Wotherspoon uses this space in a captivating way, particularly with the first play Future Loves Burning, transforming the way the audience engages with it. Staging most of the play in the round in this space is inventive and makes it more intriguing, with the stage itself becoming a small seating bank. The doors and entrances, some of which I didn’t realise existed, keep the drama in motion and give the production an unpredictable intensity.

The ensemble is wonderful in Future Loves Burning as a troupe of actors trying to put on a play. There is a strong dynamism as they move in and out of scenes, speaking in a rapid, natural rhythm filled with strange expressions and playful text. Veronica Thomas is outstanding as the director within the play, desperately navigating the chaos of putting a show together. This is the kind of theatre that Margie Argyle (Anne Edmonds) from ABC's Bad Company would kill to make.

The only real weak spot is a drunken monologue towards the end that is at odds with everything that has come before it. It introduces a major tonal shift that never quite pays off, ultimately undercutting much of the momentum it has successfully built.

It is a very wordy script, and does it occasionally become a little bogged down in its own theatricality to the point where you are not entirely sure what is occurring? Absolutely. But is it entertaining and exciting to watch these actors throw themselves into the characters and dialogue with such commitment and joy? Absolutely.

The second play, Age of Extremes, sees the production discussed earlier finally being staged. Set inside a surreal sci-fi courtroom drama, it follows a man accused of crimes against the ages who must attempt to prove his innocence. Like the preceding piece, it is dense with language and populated with characters who seem to exist on a slightly different plane from reality.

But where Future Loves Burning balances its unruliness with humour and playfulness, Age of Extremes takes on a more philosophical tone. Its duration is too long and there are too many tangents to maintain momentum, making it increasingly difficult to grasp what is actually happening as it progresses. The inclusion of an ableist slur lands badly. It appears to be there largely for shock value, without any meaningful justification or interrogation within the work itself, and its use is both surprising and disappointing.

Despite this, the actors remain committed throughout. Matthew Connell delivers a capable central performance, grounding the play’s abstract passages with conviction, while Clarisse Bonello brings a great presence that helps cut through the production’s heavier stretches.

Future Loves Burning / Age Of Extremes is messy, indulgent and at times exhausting, but it is rarely boring. Even when the writing disappears into its own abstractions, there is still something exciting about watching artists push a space, a cast and an audience this hard. Wotherspoon’s ambition is undeniable, and while the second half struggles under the weight of its own ideas, the first play captures an energy that is electric. Not every experiment here works, but enough of them do to make this a memorable and exhilarating night at The Motley Bauhaus.

SHOW DETAILS

Venue: The Motley Bauhaus, 118 Elgin St, Carlton
Season: until 23 May | 7:30pm

Duration: 120 minutes with interval
Tickets: $36 Full | $26 Conc
Bookings: The Motley Bauhaus