Completely lost

Lost Highway, the Young Vic
*

The David Lynch film is confusing but it’s a walk in the park compared to this stage production of Lost Highway.

The set designed by Riccardo Hernandez is atmospheric and very cool. A long runway intersects the studio floor, with a perspex box suspended above it; similar to David Blane’s box above the Thames when he went for 40 days without food (possibly a more enjoyable experience?).

The story is surreal. Renee (Valérie MacCarthy wearing a red wig), is murdered and Fred the saxophonist (Mark Bonnar) gets arrested and put on death row. While in prison he gets a headache and turns into a car mechanic, Pete (Quirijn de Lang). Pete the car mechanic is then released from jail as he’s clearly not Fred the saxophonist. He meets and falls in lust with Alice (Valérie MacCarthy wearing a blonde wig); unfortunately she is already going steady with the terrifyingly weird Mr Eddy (David Moss in a fantastic performance, full of screeching and talking in tongues).

The cycle of rebirth and who-killed-who is potentially fascinating, the mystery hovering over it like a fog. But the mystery gets lost in a smog of pretension.

The multimedia experience is a good example of this. Two large screens present cliched images of sex: writhing and heaving bodies punctuated by moaning “oh oh ohs”.

On a more practical note, Lost Highway is billed as an opera but there is very little singing. 40 minutes go by before anyone sings and when they finally do, you wish they hadn’t. The powerful voices of the cast are trapped by terrible lyrics: singing “OK” or “Would you like to go to dinner?” in an operatic way, doesn’t work unless it’s designed to be funny.

A quick glance across the auditorium revealed expressions of confusion and several pockets of poorly suppressed hysteria.

I don’t like to be too dismissive as experimenting is a vital part of developing exciting work; and Olga Neuwirth, the composer, is certainly avante garde. I am sure some audience members emerged feeling it was an overwhelmingly creative experience. But I don’t think anyone could persuade me that it wasn’t pretentious and boring.

It was rescued only by good performances and the car that comes sliding along the runway at the end.

I don’t know about the highway being lost: I was though.