BEN OKRI described his short story The Comic Destiny as a dense text and warned viewers the stage adaptation might prove equally difficult to unwrap.
Perhaps I failed to adequately 'unwrap' the message behind his surreal tale but for me this was a messy and unconvincing production, with only hints of some deeper meaning.
There is clearly something to the Booker-winner's short story but even the text itself, abridged for the stage, veers too readily towards cliche.
The play, which vaguely involves the search for a mysterious room, opens with the cast of three picking up copies of Okri's story.
They begin a read-through on the empty stage, only to find themselves taken over by the characters to whom they are giving voice.
It is never totally clear what this adds to the story, but it sets the stage for 75 minutes of gurning and funny voices.
While it looks like great fun for the actors, it's a bit like getting invited to a jamming session and constantly being reminded how hard the musicians are working.
The grail-like search for a room is loosely about the creative process and perhaps our own struggle for personal happiness, in which the line between hope and insanity is frequently blurred.
There are interesting fragments, like the meandering argument between a young couple, but on the whole it feels under-developed and takes itself too seriously ( I counted one half-hearted chuckle during the entire show).
I'm not expecting things to be spelled out but when you're dealing with what is obviously a difficult text, why not throw the audience a rope?
