Dot Blake
The Baxter Flipside Theatre pulsed with kinetic energy and coded symbolism last night as Autoplay by Darkroom Contemporary took to the revolving stage for its final dress rehearsal — and if this is any indication of what audiences can expect, buckle up for a visceral ride that is as hypnotic as it is unsettling.
Set in a future-now state, Autoplay blurs the line between human instinct and algorithmic obedience in a work that feels simultaneously ancient and futuristic. Under the direction of Louise Coetzer and with an arresting soundscape by Brydon Bolton, Inge Beckmann, and Njabulo Phungula, the production wraps movement, music, and metaphor into one surreal offering.
What struck most during last night’s preview was how the technical finesse of Autoplay —particularly its revolving stage and atmospheric lighting design — has elevated Autoplay into something more than just dance.
The interplay of shadows, sudden light breaks, and cyclical stage movement felt like being inside a looping data stream, with the dancers as both subjects and symbols of our tech-drenched times.
Five dancers and one hauntingly magnetic vocalist (Beckmann) move with mechanical precision and frayed edges, pushing chairs in patterns that suggest hidden airport conveyor belts, waiting rooms, and the crushing repetition of everyday life.
In the centre, an apple —shiny, glowing, constant — becomes the anchor of the piece: temptation, knowledge, desire, distraction. Sound familiar?
There are moments when the dancers resemble office workers, then sacrificial figures, then swiping thumbs. One by one, they approach the apple like contestants in some ancient algorithmic lottery, only to pass it on, devour it, or discard it. The revolving stage makes the passage of time and routine palpable — we watch the same movement from different angles, like flipping through channels or scrolling a feed we can’t switch off.
And yet, Autoplay is not without humour or humanity. There are flashes of playfulness, even absurdity — a dancer slides across a table that appears out of nowhere, another mimics the“ Please sir, may I have some more” pose, while Beckmann’s live vocals oscillate between lullaby and siren, drawing the audience into a sonic trance before snapping them out of it with a jarring jolt of noise.
One chilling moment sees a dancer in crucifix position, apples scattered at their feet, as if served up in sacrifice to a faceless god of consumption. Another sequence ends with a dancer tracing a body outline in chalk— Exhibit H (Human) — reminding us that in this autoscrolling world, the crime scene might be us.
And still, there’s hope. In one powerful beat, a dancer hands the apple back — rejecting the script, momentarily breaking the loop. But the stage keeps turning. Someone else picks it up. The system reboots.
What makes Autoplay so gripping is that it doesn’t demand that you “understand” it. It invites you to feel it. Whether you read Orwell or just binge on reels, this work hits home. It echoes the rhythm of your commute, the sound of your phone buzzing, the reflex to click without thinking.
More than a performance, Autoplay is a warning shot — stunningly choreographed, sonically daring, visually hypnotic, and deeply human. It asks: Are you in control, or on autoplay?
Don’t miss this genre-blurring, mind-bending, beautifully terrifying piece of theatre.‘Autoplay’ runs from 26 to 29 March 2025 at the Baxter Flipside Theatre, Cape Town.
Tickets available via Webtickets.
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