Writer: Anna Skov Jensen
Director: Johan Sarauw
A 2023 Fringe First winner, The Insider’s return to Plesance Dome this year offers another chance to see a multi-layered show that rewards repeated viewing.
Set within a Perspex box, the play draws on a mixture of pre-recorded voices, music, lighting and special effects as well as the acting talents of Christoffer Hvidberg Rønje, who delivers an intense physical performance as well as being the only person whose voice is heard live in the show.
The subject matter is the still ongoing cum-ex tax scandal which was initially exposed in 2014. The scandal, involving transfers of shares in order to reclaim 50billion GBP of never paid tax dividends in multiple countries, may sound like the type of dry financial material that can lose audiences in technical detail, but in the hands of Teater Katapult it is transformed into a multi-media psychological case study exploring the motivation of a German tax lawyer at one of the world’s largest banks.
The physicality of Hvidberg Rønje’s performance, combined with Jens Hansen’s probing lighting design and the dense aural soundscape created by Peter Albrechtsen, Sun Hee Engelstoft and Marcus Aurelius Hjelmborg, goes deep into the psyche of the lawyer and others like him. The adrenaline fuelled thrill of pulling off what could best be termed as a global heist are fed by, and feed into, his arrogance and confidence, making his actions seem like the ultimate hedonistic thrill, rather than an elaborate scheme involving bankers and investors motivated purely by greed and bank balances.
The bigger it gets, the easier it seems to be, as a TV detective style approach of drawing suspects on the perspex board is used to link people and places across the globe and show how simple it is to move the money around.
As with any artificially extended high, the comedown is equally apocalyptic. The pleasure is replaced with paranoia shown with chilling effect through the use of headphones and phrases and questions repeated in a cut and paste way as the lawyer wrestles with his conscience and a desire to sleep following the start of his questioning.
Intense and demanding on all of the senses, The Insider is a sharp, visceral state of the art exploration of the motives and consequences of greed and corruption on individuals and also on society. A truly compelling show.
Runs until 23 August 2025 (not Monday 18th) | Image: Jens Peter Engedal
