El Conde

Observe how Tiredness Defeats the Thought brings to the table another level of theatre, asking the audience to set aside their preconceptions about love and theatre. I have never seen a group so enraptured by a game of basketball, overlaid by the echoes of a conversation long past, but I was pleasantly surprised by Observe…, and its idea. There is tiredness everywhere. It affects us and it breaks us, makes us make mistakes and makes us confused, in life, in love and in sport.

The combination of sport and theatre is nothing new, but usually, as in the recent Chariots of Fire, the sport is the story. Here, the basketball game is incidental, but quickly overtakes the mind as the sole focus of entertainment. There is little that can penetrate the mind consciously when one is so absorbed in the watching of sport, and El Conde de Torrefiel make use of this, as a company, hypnotising one with their visual aspect whilst planting seeds in the audience’s subconscious mind, letting ideas grow in the background as there is applause for every point scored.

It is beautiful, if saddening, to see it happen. In some aspects, this is referential to the modern world – with so many things to look at, what passes us by as we stand and stare at our smart phones or our computers? Why do we choose to stay inside when there is a world outside made of competition and excitement and love? El Conde de Torrefiel make reference to this, too. We are afraid of failure – at least that is what the echoes say – and each fault or failing builds up to another and another and another, until one is so lost in failure that it becomes tiring. Once tired, what is left but mistakes and more failure? All of this is said while we watch a frantic athleticism unfold, which must change with every viewing and be as entertaining as the performers on the day.

Sport works here as the metaphor for life, where we try and try, and yet are defeated eventually, by time or a better team. By coupling this with the haunting melody of a couple calling it a day, asking for no more questions to be asked, the audience faces a loneliness and inevitability which I had never before associated with amateur basketball.