00:45:00
The central premise of 00:45:00 - a scientist testing how far an audience will let an ethical thought experiment go in real time - is intriguing, clever and gripping. The pre-show staging, including crowd work within the queue, was inventively immersive and the atmosphere enjoyably unnerving from the moment you walked in. It's clear a huge amount of care and thought went into setting the tone.
Unfortunately, after this strong introduction and a solid opening segment where the characters are introduced, it doesn't quite follow through, becoming for the most part a more conventional dramatisation. Though the cast are excellent throughout, the script doesn't do enough to make them feel like fully rounded people, and it's hard to empathise with their plight. More frustratingly, having built real tension around the promise of audience participation and the discomfort that might come with it, the show seems to lose its nerve at the last gasp, retreating into more conventional moralising.
There is a fantastic idea in here, however, and with a few adjustments it could easily become a must-see.
★★★
