After its debut at this year’s Camden Fringe, Blacked-Out Blocks returned to Theatre Deli in October with a notably different focus. The shift between the two stagings lies not in scale but in artistic intent: Camden offered a visually driven, expansive approach, while the Deli version centred almost entirely on text and performance, revealing the piece’s evolution.

The Camden staging used a long, cavernous space, creating a layered visual identity through hand-drawn animation, live video, and an original score. Script revisions were shown through playful projections, and the final twist relied on real-time video. At this point, the writing was still settling; characters often spoke in extended passages, slowing momentum and creating distance. Even so, the inventive visual language carried clear charm.

The Theatre Deli version moved in the opposite direction. With only a table and two chairs, and no projections or music, the production depended entirely on the actors and the reworked text. Sentences were tightened, motivations clarified, and the characters’ shared past integrated more meaningfully. In this stripped-back setting, the performances gained precision, and the tension within the dialogue sharpened.

Carrie Au and Vero April Zhou excelled in both. Zhou’s earlier, outward-facing energy became more concentrated at the Deli, highlighting her character’s ambition and pressure. Au’s Philo shifted from storyteller to a figure of quiet firmness, her anger more sharply drawn.

Across both versions, the play’s thematic concerns remained steady: the pressures on creators in a market-led environment, the repackaging of emotion, the absorption of dissent. These ideas landed more clearly in the Deli staging, where dialogue took precedence. The final twist, now achieved through timing and light rather than technical spectacle, matched the pared-back tone.

There is still room for refinement—some emotional transitions could be smoother, and a few argumentative shifts feel more rhetorical than active. Yet the progression between the two versions is striking. Camden highlighted the piece’s visual promise; the Deli staging delivered cleaner structure and stronger character dynamics. Together, they mark a creative team intent on shaping the work with intention and precision.