The Snake Pit – Hillz Reviews

EGO Arts presented 3 sold-out performances of The Snake Pit, a quirkily powerful parable of teenage society. The Snake Pit followed five teenagers as they fight against the snakes – representing their fears – that slither somewhat undetected into their lives. It incorporated music, metaphors, and a many perfectly placed snake references. Though only 30 minutes, The Snake Pit succeeded in leaving me speechless.

The show opened with the five teenagers emerging from the snake pit enthusiastically playing, metaphorically blowing their own trumpet and dancing freely to their own beat. One by one, the snakes attacked the teenagers but, even when they faced defeat, the teenagers still encouraged their friends’ music.

Dice were rolled and the teenagers took their turns on the Snakes and Ladders board. Each teenager chose a different issue to focus on and their snake was selected based on this. The Cobra represented bullying, the Coral Snake on isolation, the Green Anaconda the “choking” expectations implemented by peer pressure, the Black Mamba on perfectionism, and the Diamondback Rattlesnake on the expectation to be alright when you can here the rattle of struggling getting louder.

I admire how the young actors took on so many roles – they supported their friends as they played their trumpets, but also portrayed the antagonistic bullies and voices sparking mixed emotion within friendships.  It amplified the message “the snakes are all around”: friends can provide sources of stress and support. After the success of the snakes, the teenagers were stuck with society’s labels.

My favourite moment came soon after when the teenagers shed their snakeskin, overcoming their fears and worries, to dress in their own bright colours and resume their music. It provided the moral that you are more than other people’s words, more than the labels society sticks you with.

Overall, The Snake Pit was must-see! I can’t wait to see what EGO Arts have in store next.