AUTOBAHN Until 21 Mar 2009 Review by Richard Flynn “Autobahn” is a collection of six short plays by playwright Neil LaBute, with just two actors in each and all set in a Buick – so, expect American accents all round, and fortunately they appear reasonably authentic in this production. A good beginning! Eight fine actors – Cheryl Bradley, John Doherty, Nic English, Renee Gentle, Martin Hissey, Rachael Kirkham, Tamara Lee and Tim Overton – are managed by four equally talented directors: Dee Eaton (two plays), Tina Mitchell (two), Graham Self and Phillip Parslow. But therein lie the seeds to some problems. ‘Why plays that all occur in automobiles?’ LaBute asks and his reply, ‘Because I love the infinite possibilities that a confined space offers the writer, director, performer and audience … Cars, like most everything else, have been used as covert love nests, battlegrounds, or places of refuge in the past’. ”Autobahn” gives us examples of all of these – and more. Unfortunately, in this production, of the four - writer, director, performer and audience - it is the audience who are least considered. This is largely to do with the way the show has been planned. Four directors are three too many, and the (noble) desire to give eight actors a go would have been better resisted to use only half that number playing all the roles. The approaches are uneven therefore, and the performances range from spot-on to transparently artsy, where technique gets in the way of real engagement. The simple bench car seat and steering wheel (yes, on the USA side) were effective – and constrained the action as intended - but the videography supporting and linking some plays was wrong (it should have been played backwards to match the orientation of the car, or shot in the first place from the rear window instead of, as here, through the front windscreen). In order of presentation, ‘Road Trip’ (John Doherty and Martin Hissey, directed by Dee Easton), ‘Bench Seat’ (Renee Gentle and Tim Overton, directed by Phillip Parslow), ‘Merge’ (Nic English and Rachael Kirkham, directed by Tina Mitchell) and ‘Autobahn’ (Tamara Lee and John Doherty, also directed by Tina Mitchell) are the highlights. “Seekers of Better-Than-Average Fringe” are recommended to head west along Waymouth Street. It’s down ‘the other end of town’ from that Garden (!) and it’s all the better for that, though the noise of a waiting “bar” crowd outside made the last twenty minutes tough on actors who also had to compete – all night - with none-too-subtle refrigerator and air-conditioning clatter! Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)