 The Insider
Zoo Southside - August 24-27 Look into the human face of greed – live acting, visuals and a binaural soundscape that gives you the chills. The Cum-ex tax scam: 50 billion GBP "robbed" from the treasuries around Europe! The use of headphones and 3D-sound creates an intimate connection with the cynical financier on stage when he is interrogated at a party in the club, in the shower, in a bank in Zürich. Did you know you were robbed out of tens of billions in something called the Cum-ex tax scam? I doubt it. The Cum-ex tax scam was a complex financial fraud scheme that exploited a tax loophole in several European countries, between the early 2000s and 2012. The scheme, which involved extensive coordination and manipulation of financial transactions, resulted in the misappropriation of billions of euros in wrongfully claimed tax refunds. Our insight into this world of corruption and the rats sneaking between the cracks amongst some of the biggest names in finance is played by Christoffer Hvidberg Rønjethe, a nameless insider, as the type of trim and well-dressed corporate man who is instantly recognisable to us all who uncovers the CumEx tax evasion strategy then finds himself seduced into being a key and willing participant. He is compelling to watch inside his literal and metaphorical box as we watch his fall from bean counter to allowing power and money to have him powdering his nose and then losing control towards his family and his grip on reality as he tries to balance the high wire act of massive corporate greed and attempting to justify it to himself and prosecutors. The audience wears headphones which allow us to hear other characters interacting with our insider, the pounding of the dancefloors where these criminals hide in plain sight, the scribble of a pen, and the sound of every bit of stress from elevated breathing, to manic movement straight into ears and allows every audience member to engage equally no matter where their seat is within the venue. The use of the large box on stage where the drama unfolds throughout was a very surprising choice for me as it immediately drew parallels with one of the most popular plays about financial greed, The Lehman Brothers. While slightly smaller the box in The Insider uses many of the same techniques from writing on the plastic, backscreen projection and one of the same minimal pieces of furniture in terms of a filing cabinet. The play is only an hour and can only uncover so much in that time and it takes the right approach to make the best use of the ticking clock by focusing on how and why someone could be such a willing participant in a scheme. Our insider comes from a part of Germany where he has no right to be as successful as he has and the opportunity to go from cultural outsider to exposed to the best in life and all the trappings is something that will get the audience wondering if that could be them and would they too would do the right thing when the moment comes. - Lee Hutchison 4/5 Book your tickets here > https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/insider |
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