Apocalyptic location theatre Wunderbaum tantalising prelude to explosive 'International Choice' #he Choice

Such a cool late summer evening as Thursday 9 September 2010 is a perfect night for the try- out of the location play 'Natives' by actors' group Wunderbaum. Clear sky, mildly rising autumn chill and virtually windless. Location: a marshy lawn between two abandoned housing blocks in the Rotterdam district Pendrecht. Once built from post-war ideals of family happiness, convenience and accessibility, it soon became too cramped, ageing and eventually completely impoverished.
This is exactly the atmosphere the acting group was looking for for a show about the current economic crisis and the end-of-the-times feeling that is bubbling up from every corner of society. The mere sight of the location is enough for an apocalyptic feeling. Of the residential block, consisting of a four-storey building with 24 porch flats, the outer facades of about five flats in the middle have been demolished. Unashamedly, it shows the silent memories of intimacies: a blue kitchen wall with gaping holes, a pink bedroom wall, desolate remains of a living room. On the far right of the scene, a couple of neighbourhood boys are sent away smoking a hefty joint.
In the theatre light, the drab scene turns into a grim dollhouse. On the top floor, half over the edge, lies a woman in travail. Her animalistic moans pierce through the marrow. Two other women skittishly emerge and peek apathetically over the railing. A man in another room stares silently ahead. Thin music, produced live on the ground floor, heightens the sense of unease. When the child is finally born, the mother murmurs "I'm sorry", but the event brings the skittish women together for a moment. The child is washed in an old bucket, the mother's cake thrown in a corner. Then everyone sinks back into apathy.
The play strings together a dozen scenes in which downfall and alienation predominate. In between, there are also scenes that are caricatural and make you escape for a moment, such as a horse in a shopping cart, or a carnival polonaise that suddenly starts. As a shaky sign of hope, there is a mumbling man building a boat like a biblical Noah. But in the key scene, all the actors wear animal masks. Only then do they seem at ease.
Because of the clever lighting and the actors' extremely physical commitment, the events get very close to the skin. For location theatre, this is very special. The ambiguity also keeps the play alive in a way. Yet in the end, it is togetherness that is unequivocally buried by a group of nurses, after which animality, this time without masks, strikes again. An explosive prelude to the International Choice, which officially kicks off on Friday 10 September.

'Natives' by Actors' Group Wunderbaum. Try-out during Rotterdam Schouwburg's International Choice on location Flat Pendrecht, Thursday 9 September. To be seen there until 2 October.