Pardon / In Cuffs

SKaGeN lit up the Fringe with Bigmouth in 2012, but although their interest in stark, politically engaged theatre hasn’t wavered, their work has gradually shed its punch and relevance. Pardon / In Cuffs is an extended verbatim piece examining the peculiar relationship between those in police custody and their interrogators or legal aides. Men and women from all walks of life argue and bargain for their freedom, cajoling themselves into community service to dodge custodial sentences.

We see a prostitute with a crack addiction, shoplifters and wife-beaters and career criminals. Some are horrified to find themselves teetering on the brink of prison, while others accept it as an occupational hazard.

The performances are tight and economic, and the design, which sets the conversations on top of a revolving wooden drum, is stunning. But there’s so little of note in the material, so little purpose or intensity, that it all feels to no avail.

There are moments of glinting theatricality, including scattered magic routines and a climactic grand illusion, but their purpose is obscure. SKaGeN suggest a sexual angle to the relationship between prosecutor and accused, and perform a series of increasingly aggressive flirtations, but if Pardon / In Cuffs is intended as a satire of the legal system, it’s far too backwards in coming forward. It plays out like the record of a promising but dramatically unsuccessful research period.