Review: BULL, Park Theatre

Deafinitely Theatre reiterate that creative captioning and BSL integration don’t only make theatre more accessible, they can be brilliant artistic choices. After adapting Mark Bartlett’s Contraction in 2017, they’re now tackling his play about corporate bullying. When three colleagues find out that one of them is about to be fired, a bizarre power-play results in a vicious deathmatch. Bull provides a multidimensional opportunity. The production is signed throughout, with all actors portraying Deaf characters. Paula Garfield directs Ciaran O’Breen (Thomas), Jasmine Whipps (Isobel), Danny Lee (Tony), and David Sands (Carter).

As a hearing person, the show is unlike anything that’s hit a major stage recently. The absence of spoken words puts the theatrical experience in perspective. The audience is never truly quiet; the air-con is noisy. It forces you to be intensely attentive at all times. One glance elsewhere and you’ve missed an entire sentence from the large screen on the back wall. Besides these collateral observations, we found ourselves noticing the interpretation of Bartlett’s text with interest. 

The performers make pronounced acting choices, taking body language to exciting new levels. Lee’s sleazy charisma, Whipps’s mean girl nature, Thomas’s insecurity, Carter’s assertion—all their attributes emerge from precise decisions in Garfield’s blocking and ultimate mise-en-scène. The performances might not be too subtle, but they deliver the nuances of the material smoothly. The action is not completely silent, with Eleanor Isherwood’s sound design contributing a low rumbling intensity to emphasise certain scenes. Combined with Jessie Addinall’s lighting, the significance of the pivotal moments in the plot explodes.

Bartlett writes an awful display of cruelty. His characters are almost inhuman as they target their peer out of sheer malice. There’s a specific point where Garfield’s direction takes an absurdist turn, transforming the main trio into predators and prey in an animalistic movement sequence. Another tier appears, and, in a way, this generates a further reflection on the differences between gesturing, signing, and acting. 

This project does more than tell a tale about the illusion of meritocracy. The horrid callousness and relentlessly puerile taunting in it exemplify the impact and importance of communication. Bartlett’s script contains quite a few twists where the characters mislead one another verbally, so adding extra layers in the linguistic and stylistic departments amplifies this side of the piece. This version of Bull teaches us that accessibility cannot be an afterthought; it needs to be at the forefront of style and stagecraft.

Bull runs at the Park Theatre until 24 October

Reader Reviews

To post a comment, you must register and login.