Imagine going to see a play and not understanding a single word spoken.

Imagine going to another place and not understanding a single word spoken.

Imagine permanently moving to another country where you don’t understand a single word spoken.

Imagine writing a review about a play about all of the above.

The Arrival

Spare Parts Puppet Theatre

The Arrival is based on the eponymous forthcoming book by much-acclaimed artist, writer and all round nice guy Shaun Tan (Hatchette Livre, due October 2006). The play tells the story of Aki, who leaves his wife and child in order to make a new life and establish a home in an amazing, bustling metropolis. Equipped with little more than the clothes his back, the hat on his head and a pad of strange symbols, Aki must navigate his way through strange streets and the even stranger inhabitants. He must find a place to sleep, a place to work, a place to buy the strange items that this new land considers to be food, all while missing the family he has left behind.

The Arrival uses a blend of digital animation, puppetry and human actors to tell its story. None of the actors speak during the play, comunicating through expressions and gestures. For Aki, even gestures take some interpreting at first, and to guide him is a rough book of drawn images (pictures of food, a bed, people working) he hangs around his neck.

While I was hoping for more puppetry, the puppets were excellent. Aki finds a pet, a creature somewhere between a big blue tadpole and a small shark, that keeps him company. The animation is incredibly effective, moving backdrops to indicate movement and changes of scenes and to give the audience a feel of the metropolis (there are only three cast members). The projection of well-thought-out images enables a simple stage to represent a boat, a balloon, city streets, even a forest.

While the plot could happen anywhere, the world of The Arrival is full of the fantastic. Aki’s homeland is overrun by tentacled monsters, transportation within the metropolis is by balloon, strange creatures run around underfoot, the staple diet consists of what looks like an egg wearing a tall beanie, and Aki communicates with his family through drawings folded into origami cranes and then set loose to fly home.

The Arrival works because Tan has been able to tap into the heart of multicultural Australia, a land of migrants from any number of linguistic backgrounds. By creating an environment devoid of comprehensible dialogue he is able to effect a level playing field where everyone is forced to use more than their ears to understand what is going on. The Arrival shows the importance of visual cues in our society, that we have more commonalities than differences. The play has something for everyone of all ages.

Makes me impatient for the book.