It seems that nearly every month now we turn on the news to discover that somebody has gone missing. Somebody’s little girl. Somebody’s father. We can’t help it, but we always assume the worst. Foul play just seems like the most obvious and likely outcome.
But disappearances aren’t always so sinister. Sometimes people just disappear. Run away. Relocate. Start afresh and begin a new life as a reborn or reinvented individual.
Bye Bye World follows two strangers in the days leading up to their planned vanishing. These women seek for something more than the mundane and lonely lives that they have somehow stumbled upon. As time races past them, they have to make a choice. Stay or go.
The main problem I have with this piece is the apparent lack of thought these characters have for the people that they intend to leave behind. One has a lovely home and a lovely husband…and just leaves! Not a word, not a single note, is left behind for a man who appears to have nothing but love for her. Is this a character to like or respect? The other has a lonely mother who just wants to be visited more. Is she? Of course not.
Whilst we all understand what they are going through (I’m sure there has been a fleeting moment in all of our lives where we have dreamt of starting again), it is a heartless and especially wicked person that would do such a thing without, at the very least, pretending to be an adult and talking about it. There’s nothing to run away from but their own failures. And they have a tendency to follow you around.
The performances by the two are very good though. They bring humour and charm to the stage, which very nearly successfully makes you forget about exactly what they are doing.
It is inventive in places and does have an odd punch to it. But its moral compass is way off, leaving the piece confused and begging for direction.
Show Times: 17-26 August, 2012, 11:35am
Ticket Prices: £9.50 (£8.50) (20-23 August only: £8.50/£7.50)