REVIEW: Breathing Corpses

Contrary to what first came to mind upon hearing the name of this play, Breathing Corpses is, thankfully, not about zombies. Instead, it is a profound and emotional drama which explores what happens when people stumble across dead bodies. Although seemingly unconnected, the play’s three corpses are more tightly interlinked than one may initially believe.

While the bodies themselves may no longer be alive, the play’s characters breathe new life into them, taking the audience on a surprisingly emotional journey as they begin to understand the transience of life and that the dead never completely leave us behind.

Amy, a sympathetic and amicable cleaner and waitress. (Photo Credit: Jake Morris)

Amy, a sympathetic and amicable cleaner and waitress, is the first to find a body in this play: that of a suicidal guest in one of the hotel rooms. Isla Cowan gives a powerful and heart-wrenching performance as she begins to talk to the mysterious dead body under the bed covers. As she reads his final words, she gradually begins to realise how his death may affect not only her career (this is not the first time she has found a dead body in a hotel room) but also her entire life, as well as the lives of his family and friends. By imagining the dead man’s past in an impressive and thought-provoking monologue, Cowan’s Amy learns that death is not only about those killed, but also about those that are left behind.

Jim and Elaine, an amusing husband-wife dynamic. (Photo Credit: Jake Morris)

Marcus Martin and Laura Pujos go on to portray an amusing husband-wife dynamic; one that turns on its head when the former, who runs an independent storage company, unexpectedly discovers the body of a woman in one of the storage units. Laura skillfully pulls off a strong and convincing performance as the flustered and lonely mother of two, Elaine – certainly one of the strongest performances of the night. Meanwhile, Martin manages to encapsulate Jim’s full emotional spectrum, beginning with a hint of arrogance and a sense of humour, but ending up restless and confused upon discovering the cause of the strange smell coming from beyond his office.

Kate and Ben, the frustrated young couple. (Photo Credit: Jake Morris)

Helen Vella-Taylor and Josh McClure’s partnership as the frustrated young couple, Kate and Ben, is undeniably the most powerful and engaging of the play, with both actors giving an outstanding and unforgettable performance. The physicality of this scene is masterfully enacted and the audience is left feeling both disturbed and outraged as the couple’s formerly happy relationship is torn apart upon the discovery of a dead body in the park. It is here, once again, that the play’s moral dilemma comes to the fore. Although being unidentified, the body seems to create its own character through the havoc its discovery wreaks upon Kate and Ben’s relationship.

It was at this point, about halfway through the play, that everything began to fall into place for me and the skilful beauty of the play’s writing became apparent. Without giving too much away – because after all the play is most engaging and intriguing through its highly unexpected and ingenious plot twist – the fact that the chronology doesn’t completely match up only adds to the impression that death is something cyclical in that it affects everyone, and too often in the most surprising of ways.

A complex and inventive play…aided by the brilliant multi-purpose set and very effective lighting and sound effects. (Photo Credit: Jake Morris)

The play’s director, Hazel Lawrence, has done an outstanding job in bringing this complex and inventive play to life on the Corpus Playroom stage, all of which was aided by the brilliant multi-purpose set and very effective lighting and sound effects. The music between scenes helped to heighten the dramatic tension as, layer by layer, the complex sub-narratives were revealed to the audience, and the repeated use of various props and furniture further added to the notion that the characters’ lives were connected in more ways than expected.

Breathing Corpses was poignant, touching, powerful, captivating, and most of all, entertaining, unnerving the audience as the separate strands of the play’s narrative began to weave together in a complex and sophisticated plot where only one thing connected them all: the breathing corpses themselves.

4.5/5 stars