The Noise

Touring

2 Stars

The island of Whitley, a remote British crown dependency close to Antarctica, is unexceptional save for an unexplained, incessant noise that makes the inhabitants go stir crazy.

The population at large is happy to blot it out with alcohol and earplugs but perky teenager Charlie (Rachel Gay) and audiologist Harry (Jerry Killick) are determined to trace its source.

It looks like a breakthrough is about to be made when an iceberg comes into the main harbour, giving them the chance to map the island's geology by listening to sound waves at low tide.

But before the secret is discovered, Harry's dead body washes into the bay.

His unexplained death forms a crisis point for the insular, post-Summerisle world.

That sense of isolation is emphasised by the action of Unlimited Theatre's sci-fi conspiracy thriller which is shoehorned into a single act.

The action is enhanced by Minotaur Shock's ominous, electronic soundtrack that burbles under throughout and echoes around the cold metal set's radio tower and suspended blue iceberg.

Writers Clare Duffy, Jon Spooner and Chris Thorpe have thoroughly researched the cognitive effects of sound and two psychologists are credited as consultants on the production, But plot and characters never fully engage. Viktoria Kay as the Chief of Police can't decide whether to be authoritarian matriarch or amiable penguin rescuer, while government agent (Jerry Killick) is a comic pastiche of a Bond villain with plummy voice and sharp suit.

There are tantalising glimpses of wider ideas - into mind control and the need to question authority - but ultimately The Noise comes across as a low-budget sci-fi programme from the 1970s.

Runs at Warwick Arts Centre November 21-23, box office: (024) 7652-4524.

Susan Darlington