Theatre Review (Singapore): ‘Bane’ by Joe Bone

Evam Arts Singapore and Teamwork Productions presented the one-man show by Joe Bone called Bane (Part 1) at the Drama Centre on the 8th and 9th of February 2014.

Designed by performer Bone, the hourlong Bane tells the tale of private detective Bruce Bane who comes upon a couple of dead bodies and goes on to investigate the scene, only to find out that someone is after Bane himself.

Bone is a one-man performer in every meaning of the word as he provides dialogue for a slew of characters in a myriad of tones, accents and speech patterns, and also produces all the sound effects with his voice, ranging from bullets shredding the air to doors creaking. It was almost like listening to those murder mysteries that used to play on radio many decades ago, especially given the emptiness of the stage.

Bone proved just how impressive his skills are as he presented a story full of action and unique and interesting characters, sometimes even having a conversation between the characters where he had to vacillate between various accents and tones at lightning speed – and he did it all without missing a beat.

Bone also enlisted the help of musician Ben Roe who added ambiance and feeling to the plot and production with his live guitar playing.

Together, Bone and Roe gave the audience a thrilling and exciting murder mystery, with plenty of dark and slapstick humour thrown in to give levity to this piece.

There are three parts to the Bane story, and this was the first. With this story hanging on a somewhat suspenseful note, this imaginative and noir-inspired production tells me that the other two parts would be worth watching as well. Therefore, one can only hope that Bane and Bone return to our Singapore shores soon!