To hunt or be hunted? Carrion is a dark comedy performed by Oxford University’s Clarendon Productions, and explores the vicious cycle of life through the relationship between three unnatural allies: an unreliable fox, patronising bear and malicious crow. The audience are transported to the forest, evident from the bird noise and log in the centre of the stage, where a brutal betrayal begins to unfold. As mist rolls over the forest floor, produced by a fog machine, the audience sit in suspense as they ponder the crow’s question: “how comfortable are we with silence?”
The audience are aware from the start that the crow is up to something. The bird shares its thoughts through lyrical monologues addressed to the spectators, then goes on to deceive the unknowing animals. I helplessly witnessed chaos and destruction descend upon the woodland. The crow remained emotionless and calculating throughout the performance and their presentation was haunting.
The acting was astounding. The players portray such raw emotion, particularly pain, as well as fear and panic. My heart pounded as I watched, utterly captivated. Tears ran down their faces as they watched their friends die but were forced to do what they could to survive when starving through the winter. They were coated in blood and dirt and despite simple costumes, you believe that the woman before you truly is the fearful fox who has lost their tail. The actors project their voices well in the substantial space and the lighting subtly indicates the mood of a scene as well as the time of day, mimicking the changing natural light of the forest.
The mysterious “two legs”, which is how the animals refer to humans, begin to wreak havoc on the natural environment. This raises issues of deforestation and habitat and species loss, although the direction of blame is ambiguous; the audience question the morality and actions of the animals and how they feed on one another. Some are gluttonous, feasting on whatever they find. The food used in the play, which included pizza, an apple, and fish and chips, highlighted the animalistic nature of the characters who stick together but ultimately only look out for themselves.
This tale is strange and the characters stay within the grey zone between right and wrong. There are comedic moments but, overall the performance was ominous, threatening and thrilling, exposing a whole new meaning to the term a ‘murder of crows’.
Carrion runs at Temple at C ARTS, C venues, C aquila, 21-25 Aug at 12:35.
Tickets available here.
Images provided to The Student as press material.