The City and Iris

Theatre is all about stimulating the imagination and letting it run free. It shows us things that film and television can’t and offers us a unique experience. Glass-Eye Theatre Company provides such an experience in its new show The City and Iris, which I managed to catch on its tour across England at the Square Chapel Theatre in Halifax.

The City and Iris follows the story of a young woman named Iris, a library worker who was diagnosed with myopia, or short-sightedness, as a child. As a result, she was forced to wear corrective glasses and hasn’t taken them off since. At first, the company, who act as an ensemble that make up everyday objects and characters in Iris’s world, present to the audience a day in her life. After following her through her day, it is clear that Iris is forced to lead a simple life due to her condition. The following night when Iris is asleep, the company decide to show the audience just what might happen if Iris’s glasses were to suddenly ‘break’, and how her life would change. On her way out of her house, she falls over and smashes her glasses, leaving her incredibly anxious and worried. As the story goes on, and Iris interacts with the world she has always been used to seeing at a distance, it becomes clear that the glasses she once wore were restricting her enjoyment of the world. This is later confirmed by her optician, and Iris sets out to enjoy the world in ways she thought she never could.

The narrative itself is quirky, warm and charming, yet it’s actually the company’s way of presenting it that makes it all the more wonderful to watch. In the confines of a box marked out by red tape on the stage, the company act as a living, breathing and dynamic ensemble who use their bodies and voices to bring Iris’s world to life. They present to the audience a variety of vibrant characters, whose physicality and vocality are incredibly different to that of the story’s heroine. This singles her out and allows the audience to warm to her as she embarks on her journey. The company work superbly well with one another, with every member of the cast using their physicality to create the image of a living, breathing world.

I’d comment on the set of the piece, but I can’t, mainly because there wasn’t one. All that was on stage was the red box on the floor and the company in it. But really, that’s all the company needed. They used their bodies to build up Iris’s world, creating winding trees and looming bookshelves with ease. Their use of lighting was also minimal, being used only to help represent certain parts of Iris’ world. The sound was minimal too, with the company using only their voices to bring together the chattering vibrance of city life.

The City and Iris prods and pokes at the audience’s imagination and gets them to think about their perspective on the world they live in today. It does this in the most charmingly warm way and blends such a social message into its rich, engaging characters and narrative. Glass-Eye Theatre Company prove that you don’t need an intricately detailed set or captivating soundtrack to tell a story of epic proportions, and The City and Iris is a credit to the weird and wonderful worlds that only theatre can provide us with.  It’s warm, refreshing and enthralling, and certainly shouldn’t be missed.

The City and Iris is currently on tour across the UK. For more information, visit Glass-Eye Theatre’s website.