Review: Faster Than the Speed of Light at Salvage Vanguard [Theatre]

...Or something like that. Like we've mentioned already, the significance here is not in the details.

It's in the performances, which are all outstanding. Beyond Roye's Atom, there's also Varenhost's subdued turn as the mute Clock, a far cry from the over-the-top characters he portrayed in his last outings alongside Fletcher, the Getalong Gang's Arthuriosis and Vestige's Gorilla Man.

It's in the music, which, under musical directors Sara Berger and Henna Chou's guidance, is tense, evocative, and still catchy enough to work as a stage musical. The unconventional instrumentation helps, too, as when Berger's bassoon crucially drives forward a scene that might otherwise fall flat.

Finally, and most importantly, the significant storytelling is in the set and costume design. Kelli Bland's direction makes full use of Ia Enstera's breathtaking set, and the shiny, industrial sci-fi costuming of Jamie Rhodes. A show this ambitious would fall flat without a set that fully sells the world we're meant to believe the characters inhabit.

There's a reason you rarely see dystopian science fiction epics staged, especially in Austin theaters with the budgetary and resource restrictions where one's frequently forced to make a dollar out of fifteen cents: it's really fucking hard to do. We have to believe that the things we see on stage don't exist in our world, and that they serve a purpose to the people in front of us. Faster Than the Speed of Light succeeds entirely on this level, building a world in which it becomes downright logical that a guy could split himself into two ideal companions with the aid of a mute robot sidekick, and that one of them would set up shop as a goth-industrial motivational speaker while the other wanders around the lab strumming a ukelele.

The truly remarkable thing about Faster Than the Speed of Light is just how many ways the show could have been a disaster. Austin theater is rarely this ambitious, and even if there are occasional audience members scratching their heads and wondering what, exactly, is happening, those of us who are ready to just strap in and see where it takes us are able to witness a glimpse of what the future could hold: if not the goth clubs and robots, then maybe just a theater scene that dares to go big.

Faster Than the Speed of Light runs June 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, and 13 at Salvage Vanguard Theatre. Tickets are available online.