'Bane' in Review - 9 Feb 2014

A man in a thick trenchcoat steps onstage, followed by a guitarist sitting nondescript on the right side of stage. A square shaped light about 3 metres wide scales down the performance area at the centre of the stage, and we're off!

In the space of over an hour, actor Joe Bone reenacted the action movie-like story of assassin Bruce Bane as he attempted to escape attempts on his own life and leading a secret identity as a family man with a wife and baby on the way. Throughout the show, Bone played every character including extras such as hot dog sellers with schizophrenic frenzy, even voicing every sound effect such as gunshots and doors opening. No sets, no costumes, just one actor enacting an entire script with his voice and body.

Five minutes into the show it seemed like an adult/well-packaged version of a primary school skit. But as the show progresses, one is taken by how tightly the show is run, how incredibly well-rehearsed and detailed it is. Before long, we are caught up in his story as it took a serious turn, even with the occasional joke interpolated in it. While the story was predictable, the delivery was certainly unusual; a low-fi, no-tech action movie that engages our imagination more than any expensive highway car chase sequence.

Ben Roe on guitar provided an immersing live soundtrack, switching between styles and playing from memory with nonchalant ease. He did much to increase the emotional tension of the characters in addition to playing suitable background music of a scene setting.

At the end, we in the audience were duly impressed, and Bone ended his Singapore debut with a success.