00:45:00 ****

An electronic clock sits above the stage, initially displaying 00:45:00. It’s the name of the production, of course, but shortly will also become a dramaturgical device, relentlessly counting down towards a yet to be determined outcome.

Dr Wilison (Mary Kathryn Brown) is a scientist about to conduct a social experiment. The goal is to investigate how far human self-preservation and self-interest will stretch the boundaries of behaviour and morality in a life-or-death situation.

Five young adults are paid participants in this experiment, around which very strict rules are laid out. One of the five will die, she reveals, with no trace of emotion. The participants will be observed through a one-way mirror. The participants and observers will influence and determine the outcome.

The five arrive: the wary Piper (Grace Hoy). Nia, a bubble of energy (Zakiya Hall). Lonnie, a Yale student (Sam Wade). tentative Eliana (Magda Riha). Finally, Booker, late and almost excluded from the experiment (Paris Finch). They sign medical disclaimers.

Participation is dependent on their taking a pill, the purpose of which is deliberately obscured. If they refuse to take the pill, they will be removed and not remunerated. This incentive proves to be sufficient. Is this pill merely a placebo, or something more sinister?

The clock begins to countdown from 45 minutes. The electronic counter lends a clinical dimension to proceedings.

Wilison reveals to the participants that they have been poisoned and that one of them shall perish. They need to decide. Shortly after they have swallowed the pills, detrimental effects begin to emerge.

The participants refuse to believe that one of the group is to be murdered. But the reducing time slowly creates urgency. A self-preservation instinct begins to be observed in some of the participants, akin to virtue signalling. They aren’t all on board with this though.

As the pressure grows, like rats trapped in a cage, friction and division come to the surface. As immersive theatre, intriguingly the outcome will change at each production.

Katie Gaven has written and directed a fine piece of theatre, weaving multiple themes, but ultimately delivering a taut, challenging and provocative production from Wilison Labs. 00:45:00 explores people’s moral compasses and how quickly external factors will distort them. Consider how quickly people will turn guns on each other in wartime. It leans into the ‘observer effect’, in which the act of observation can change the outcome.

There are excellent performances from the ensemble. They all convey anxiety in different ways, neatly avoiding mirroring each other’s energies, with interesting inter-plays. Brown’s arc of Dr Wilison’s journey is well judged, as she absorbs the emotions in the lab, trying not to fall into ‘observer bias’, yet keen for a positive outcome, when things go awry. Finch delivers a stinging deconstruction of Wade’s Miller. The eye is drawn to Hoy, a study in reflection, and revealing truths in a fine, understated, performance.

If this premise sounds far-fetched, this production alludes to decisions taken daily in the outside world. Economists speak of ‘opportunity cost’ – the examination of the benefit given up when selecting one option over another. Migrant fatalities will be impacted by resourcing decisions. And most obviously, health care institutions – in the UK the NHS – make such decisions every day.

Darwin would probably approve.

Space Surgeons’ Hall until 22^nd August and then Space 45 adjacent to Waverley Station 24^th to 28^th August,