Northern Light Theatre's newest production, Request Programme, is a thought-provoking and beautiful experience that demands much from its audience. It asks viewers to question what they are watching, reflect on their own experiences, and draw personal meaning from the performance.
A Return to Experimental Theatre
Organizers describe Request Programme as a return to the experimental theatre of the 1990s, offering a chance to try something different. Each night, a new actor takes the stage, bringing their own context to a tragic and heart-wrenching show about loneliness and loss.
Before moving on, a trigger warning wrapped in a spoiler alert: the protagonist takes her own life at the end. For a show that first debuted more than five decades ago, the statute of limitations on spoilers has expired.
The Performance
The lights come up on a tiny studio apartment. A woman arrives home, unloads her belongings, and proceeds with her nightly routine alone. She changes her socks, works on a puzzle, makes a bologna sandwich, and smokes a cigarette—all mundane actions of a single woman at home alone. After a few minutes, she turns on the radio to listen to a show called Request Programme. The protagonist reacts to some songs with a smile, a frown, or a tear. As the 90-minute show nears its end, the woman heads to the bathroom for what appear to be sleeping pills. She checks the label, thinks for a moment, and consumes the entire bottle, washing it down with champagne as the lights fade to black.
Request Programme is slow and almost plodding, a voyeuristic look at one woman's nightly routine that ends in tragedy. It is only in hindsight, reflecting on the little details with the understanding of the ending, that things truly click. Each actor is given a few prompts—activities they must perform within 90 minutes—but how they execute them is entirely up to them.
Vanessa Sabourin's Subtle Performance
Vanessa Sabourin was on stage early in the run when I attended, delivering an incredibly subtle performance full of nuance. She enters holding a bag of groceries, unpacks her supplies, and spends a very unremarkable 90 minutes living a life unseen. She nods along to some songs, tears up at one point, and dances by herself near the end of the radio show. She could be remembering an old flame, a lost partner, or perhaps just a sad movie she once saw. It is entirely up to the audience to fill in the blanks, which is the point.
The context of the actor's age and appearance, how they move through their performance, and their reactions to the music and space all lead to vastly different perceptions from the audience. Was Sabourin's character coming home from a hard workday? How long had she been contemplating suicide? How would our perceptions change with an older or younger actor?
The Music
The radio show referenced in the title features music from local female performers, including Cayley Thomas, Ellie Heath, and Alex Dawkins. It serves as a beautiful counterpoint and accompaniment to this tragic show.
