It's easy to make snap judgements when entering a theatre space. The first visual of Passengers is one such moment. Three neon tracksuit-clad figures hanging from a makeshift climbing-frame and bopping to music suggests many things, few that would hint at the fantastic movement and storytelling about to come.
Based in part on writer Kit Redstone's own experiences with Dissociative Identity Disorder, the play shines a light onto the condition by exploring the identity-driven narrative within the head of one man. But rather than tell the story of Max conventionally, the three identites war amongst themselves while slowly reveaing the narrative.
Redstone is jouned by Neil Chinneck and Jessica Clark in performing the piece and they enact a combination of dance, movement and storytelling though sometimes strange, sometimes oblique dialogues creating a fascinating and immersive experience, all the while moving around the scaffold parapet, the purpose of which changes from moment to moment.
While DID and other related conditions are difficult to approach through theatre, Passengers manages to allow the audience directly into the experience, whilst never falling into the pitfalls of engaging in medical or psychotheraputic didactism. Instead it's a riot of movement, sweat and vying egos, which is quite fantastic to witness.