2401 Objects (£5)

All I knew about this show was its name, I only found out the destination the morning before I went. When my brother and I were walking into the theatre we joked about how there were no objects on the stage, we wondered where they would be hiding 2401 objects. I was tired from a few late nights and an early morning, with that and the fact that wither were no objects of interest on the stage, my hopes for the forthcoming show were not high. In retrospect, I may have been too sceptical...

The play was about Hanry Molaison's brain, he was severely epileptic and in an effort to stop his seizures a doctor called Scoville delved into Henry's brain and removed both his hippocampi, which conveniently I'd learned about in psychology. This prevented Henry from acquiring new memories. We were taken through a few memorable moments in Henry's life to see how he lived, see how he felt, see his seizures and see him when he can't acquire memories. At the end there was a projection of Henry's brain being sliced into 2401 slices for research by Dr. Jacopo Annese, the narrator.

I love interesting sets, I was very satisfied with what I saw; a gauze screen that was the whole backdrop to the stage, there were projections on the gauze which created an eerie, dream-like atmosphere, like we were watching memories, as we were. The screen span round, let the actors and props slide underneath it and it slid from the back to the front, imitating the 'cryomicrotome' that was used to slice Henry Molaison's brain into 2401 objects.

I'll finish with a quote from Dr. Jacopo Annese (Yes, I bought the book with information and the script)
"If you could put your hands in front of you so you are looking at your palms. Perfect. And now, if for a moment, you imagine that these are my hands. They are used to doing a lot of detailed work, you trust them.

Now if you close your eyes and bring your hands towards you, so they rest on the top of your head.

[the projection goes dark and hands are raised towards the camera and cover the lens as if following the instructions]

Your thumbs rest just in top of your ears, and the heel of your hands is sort of on your forehead. There, you've got the idea.

And you can feel the bone case underneath your hands. And under that, your brain. And inside that, everything you've ever known. Everything you've ever experienced is beneath your hands.

Enjoyment: 4/5
Set: 4/5
Acting: 3/5
Directions: 4/5

Overall rating: 75% good.