For whatever historical reason, science and theatre tend not to coexist – both in practice, and in our mental representations of the two domains. Andrew Schneider boldly proves everybody wrong with YOUARENOWHERE, by blending physical theatre and physics lecture with ease he creates one of the most striking theatre performances in recent memory.
Strobing effects and a sudden deep bassline comingle with the pitch black room and make a beeline for your pulse while Schneider flits in and out of view, distorting things from the outset. Things only get weirder and more wonderful from there as Schneider races around the room, trying urgently to convey something important. Bogged down by technology, his message is interrupted by glitches of light and sound to disrupt linear notions of time. You can never be sure which Schneider is on the stage, but the subtle nuances of his movements and emotions suggest that we are on a fractured timeline, witnessing his past, present and future in no particular order.
The meditations of YOUARENOWHERE are profound, unsettling and compelling: Schneider’s exploration of relativity and parallel universes are as gripping and fully realised as his personal revelations. The show is flawlessly executed, and every effect manages to be engaging and completely disorienting all at once, bending the audience further and further into the nonlinear k-hole that is YOUARENOWHERE. The physical tension can be felt in the packed room, and as the beguiling mystery of the show begins to unravel in the third act, everybody is drawn in so deeply to the moment that it’s almost eerie. There’s an amazing development in the third act, but it would be cruel and nearly impossible to give any details because it’s not only mind-blowing, but also incomprehensible. YOUARENOWHERE takes you into the immediacy of the moment and further beyond that, to a place that will leave you reeling for days to come.
BY ALI SCHNABEL
