Running Into The Sun {Melbourne Fringe} – Theatre Review

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Running Into The Sun is a ball of energy (a sun you might say) as it takes a snapshot of how we exist in the modern world.

You’re doomscrolling. Again.
Recipe Hack! Best Pickup Lines! Celebrity Breakup Rumour! Children dying in a warzone.
Sale On Now! Social Experiment! How To Land Your Dream Job! Devastating Floods destroy homes and lives.

In between all this external input, you still have to deal with the emotions of your personal life – family, friendships, relationships, pregnancies… Feeling overwhelmed? Us too. Running Into The Sun examines an example of what living today can be like. The immense competition for our attention raises questions. What is the right step to take? What’s the priority right now? Will anything I do make that much of a difference?

This performance dives head first into a concoction of music, performance, dance and more, to deliver their story. Actors Ben Ashby (writer and director) and Ethan Morse lead us through the performance, telling their individual characters’ stories, as well as frequently coming back together to interact with each other. Well-rehearsed synchronised dialogue stood out amongst the conversations and disagreements, as well as an interaction from the rooftop, where the team made good use of their venue space and actually performed from the balcony above the audience.

Dance plays another important element in this show, with dancers Nadiyah Akbar (choreographer), Jasmine Susic, Alec Katsourakis, and Luke Romero adding visual movement to every scene, as well as jumping in to play supporting characters to the story. The choreography has a puppet-like quality to it, reflecting the feeling of being pulled in different directions beyond our control, both in life decisions and our attention spans. Due to the seating and venue space, some choreography closer to the floor was not easily seen by all, however this was only minor and most of the performance was in easy view.

Musicians Toby Leman, Davin Ojala, and Lennox Grootjans perform onstage with the other cast and use music to drive home the emotions of each scene. Saxophone, drums, bass and synths provide a mix of gentle background soundscape and dramatic emotional audio punches, with full songs supported by singers from the cast and the energy remains high throughout the performance.

Here, I will mention that having the band onstage in such proximity to the other performers, occasionally made it difficult to decipher the lyrics and dialogue, especially during louder drum sections. Perhaps a drum screen or more deafening of the drums themselves could be considered. Overall, however, most of the audio was easy to understand.

The team also made good use of their projected backdrop, using video with only small movements instead of still images to aid in setting the scene, making everything feel more alive and real to life. The show wrapped with encapsulating a feeling of youth, of futility, but also of hope and action, “If the sun explodes, we’ll be dancing”.

Running Into The Sun is a look at the world around us and our place in it. Doing something is better than nothing, “We’re all trying”. We do what we can to deal with natural, man-made and personal disasters. When you’re not sure where to go or what to do, “We should keep moving”.

A poignant and energetic snapshot of growing up in turbulent times, I applaud the team behind Running Into the Sun.

Running Into The Sun is currently playing as part of 2024 Melbourne Fringe at Festival Hub: Trades Hall – Solidarity Hall until October 20th.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://melbournefringe.com.au/event/running-into-the-sun

Photography by Mehtab Singh.

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