Empty Vessels review, Rosemary Branch Theatre

If you don't believe in the concept of souls, and on that basis you contract your soul to a mate as a bit of fun, does he have the right to sell the contract on to another buyer, or is the very idea of bartering a person's soul - even when the idea of the soul is hypothetical - inherently immoral? And if the answer is yes, can we assume that the line between fantasy and reality, between the imagined and the known, is far thinner than we'd like to admit?  This is the grey area Greg Freeman nimbly navigates in Empty Vessels, aided and abetted by zombies, gods, daggers, thunderbolts, and reality TV stars.

We're in Greece. Eric is a fantasy writer who's never written a word. He's seeking inspiration at his friend Bethany's Greek villa, except it's not a villa but two columns and a pile of bricks. Having bought the land, she hasn't the money to build. To raise funds for a spa weekend, Bethany has sold Eric her soul. It's an idea he's developing to get past writers' block... Meanwhile in their beach shack, the toilet is backing up as Bethany sits writing Travis's autobiography (sic). Travis is a reality TV star, a Welsh plumber, whose life is reduced to statements and pictures on social media. Are you a real person on a fake show, or a fake person on a real show, asks Eric. This is a bit rich given the disconnect between aspiration and execution in Eric's own life.  They are all Empty Vessels.

Then, like a bolt from the blue, the goddess Athena turns up on a Harley Davidson. She has learned Eric has bought three more souls online.  She wants them all. Odd things start to happen. Travis becomes a zombie and Athena starts speaking like Charlotte Church. There's a lot of speaking and a lot of plot in Empty Vessels and not enough space for the drama to breathe: is that another example of the imagined versus the real? Either way, there's plenty here to make you think.

In conclusion: I went to see Empty Vessels on the back of Freeman's brilliant, Dogstar. Its bleak title belies the mood and the content. The human facility for self-deceit, and our ability to reimagine our lives whether we're reality stars or refugees, is what drives us on when life places impediments in our paths. It is as much a blessing as a curse.

References
Empty Vessels, The Rosemary Branch Theatre, Tickets