Architecting (Part One)

Ideas collide, agendas conflict and figures from American history inhabit the present-day Deep South in this dense, ambitious work about re-building and re-invention.

While never less than entertaining, and superbly performed by a six-strong cast from New York's the TEAM, Architecting suffers from an overload of interwoven strands and loses momentum in the final quarter of its two-hour duration.

That said, anyone with an interest in dynamic, imaginative theatre-making will be treated to some inspired scenes exploring how historical context affects our perception of everything from works of art to housing estates.

The opening setting is a struggling bar in post-Katrina New Orleans, sited on land that developers ('disaster capitalists') have ear-marked for a new housing development. Grief-stricken architect Carrie Campbell (Libby King) arrives with an eviction notice, and is introduced to regular drinkers including historian Henry Adams and author Margaret Mitchell.

The piece was at one stage conceived as four chapters, and the joins are still visible. The most engaging section sees Mitchell (Jessica Almasy) squaring up to Hollywood executives seeking script approval for a new film of her famous novel Gone With the Wind. Forced to defend herself against accusations of racism, she's horrified by the fact that her monstrous creation Scarlett O'Hara (Kirsten Sieh) has been elevated to role model status.

We later encounter Sieh in the guise of a young woman who hooks up with fellow lonely soul Josh (Frank Boyd) in Arkansas on the way to a beauty pageant. The pair's tender scenes together are beautifully observed; the precious hopes and dreams of their characters as fragile and easily demolished as the walls of the condemned building in Louisiana.

The piece is described somewhat grandly as a "requiem for modern America", and to their credit the creators seem to acknowledge their limited perspective. "Where you from?" asks a Dixie bar owner of an out-of-town visitor. Her dry response to the answer - New York - is "Welcome to America".

Click here to watch a video preview of Architecting and here to hear about how the piece was created.