"Chatham House Rules" by Louis Rembges: between disillusionment & empowerment
In “Chatham House Rules” Louis Rembges draws from an uncanny experience in the hospitality industry amidst tech magnates and political elites. This play is *the* battle cry of a generation standing at the crossroads of disillusionment & empowerment…
The plot follows a once-revered Insta/TikTok star who undergoes profound change following a tragic accident. As the #digital world mourns, this influencer retreats, erasing their social media presence, only to re-emerge at an elite event reminiscent of #Davos — and governed by the secretive Chatham House Rules...
…where, we learn, the much-anticipated keynote speaker, will be a notorious “Pig F*cker,” (a real-life PM you might remember from news cycles past)…
The script is a postmodern Pandora’s Box of pop culture & political gems, much like the densely referential modernist works of #JamesJoyce, but for a Gen Z zeitgeist. If #VirginiaWoolf captured stream-of-consciousness, Rembges gives us the ‘stream-of-digital-consciousness’, the POV of a generation whose reality is mediated through screens…
Picture the set: looming large over our protagonist, Host, are an enormous pair of suited legs, representing “Pig F*cker”. This giant should intimidate us mere Lilliputians. But in the age of social media, the power balance is shifting…
The backdrop— a massive screen mimicking a smartphone— relentlessly injects real-time scrolling into the narrative. As texts, pics, vids & DMs merge in a digital tapestry, the effect reminds us of #PatriciaLockwood’s pop culture-laden odyssey, 'No One Is Talking About This', but with a sharper political edge…
Rembges' storytelling prowess shines in a monologue that is gleefully overstimulating. The non-linear plot feels initially chaotic, with cultural references galore. Many instantly resonate with the Gen Zs/Millennials in the audience, whilst leaving older patrons visibly perplexed. But every disparate detail comes together in a mesmerizing climax with a nihilistic (think #AmericanPsycho) undercurrent that asks: does our meme-filled reality mean anything?
A masterful twist emerges as the play *spoiler alert* seemingly concludes. House lights rise, and just when you're about to applaud, the narrative whisks you back in - blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. The false ending feels very "I May Destroy You" in its audacity…
In the end, #ChathamHouseRules is a theatrical revolution. It eloquently captures a new era, where memes are the new adjectives, where the digital is tangible, and where the battle for power plays out not in parliaments, but on platforms. Kudos to Rembges for encapsulating all the fervour & frenzy of this moment. 5/5⭐
