Colchester Fringe Festival 2024: Creator Is Present

Colchester has had another amazing year with the run of their fringe festival that ran from the 25th of October to the 3rd of November. This year I had the time to go and see one of the performances that was being held at the Headgate Theatre, a small community theatre in the heart of Colchester.

Emma Kopf's Creator Is Present was an incredibly fun and original piece of work that ran for 45 minutes. Staring Shania-Grace Thompson as Protagonist and Peter Vetere as Hubris, this performance was all about breaking the rules, testing the boundaries of control and finding out what freedom truly is.

As soon as the doors opened, we entered the performance, literally. As I walked to my seat, protagonist was on the stage under a spotlight continuously pulling on a long piece of rope and muttering to herself. Straight away it reminded me of Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett, which excited me because I enjoy theatre performances that are not like your typical narrative.

The tone was set immediately, and eeriness fell around the audience as we watched Shania perform, wondering what was to happen next. It was an interesting balance that I've never experienced before, being able to talk to the person next to you while an actor is on stage performing; we were already breaking the rules.

The set was very simple, an empty stage and some rope. This performance, I believe, didn't need any set to create it's world as the actors did a fantastic job at that. However, if Kopf's did create a set it for the play, it would be interesting to know what the stage would look like.

The show had began, and the characters began to interact with each other, exhibiting to push and pull boundaries of their relationship. Both Peter and Shania did a great job at presenting their characters relationship so clearly in a short period of time. Hubris was determined to leave the world in which their characters were trapped in while Protagonist was desperate to follow the rules. From what I understand, the performance touched on the parallel between actors and who they are behind the curtain. It was about not having to follow the rules that are set out for you on the script, to allow the actor to be free.

Throughout the performance Shania's character repeats the line,“Protagonist works” to which she then picks up the rope and continues to pull at it in. The rope is driving the performance, it's not going anywhere apart from the circle its bound in. It's only purpose is to get to the end of the show.

This shows just how much the protagonist has been manipulated to believe that they must do as they are told. Hubris goes against this and cuts the rope, causing panic and chaos. I'm sure there are many actors that would have connected to this performance.

The actors then journey through the boundaries of their world and explore the true meaning of freedom, to which they find in the end, remembering the names of who they were before.

The only downfall of the performance is that it wasn't long enough! I would love to see more of this play and to get to know the characters on a much deeper level. However, it was still very much enjoyable and clever. I look forward to next years festival and to see if Kopf has anymore great work up her sleeve.

8/10 - Engaging, original and exciting.