Blind Fly Theater, January 2012
Another adventure for David Lorell Hoskins' detective hero. This time
he is sent on a mission to the FBI Building in Washington DC. He travels through endless doors, encounters ghostly voices
ordering him to enter information, and then wishing him a nice day when he has finished, and ends up being taken on a mental
voyage that involves encounters with the ghost of Peter Sellers playing Dr. Strangelove, as well as several episodes involving
Lucky Strike cigarettes.
On one level the story draws on familiar sources - for example, the first-person
narratives characteristic of classic detective fiction - to tell the tale. It is as much about Theo's response to the world,
as he tries to overcome endless obstacles. On the other hand, Theo Trouver's Static represents a journey into the
psychiatric underworld. In most detective fiction we get little insight into the protagonists' state of mind as they patiently
solve cases, even if they experience experience violent incidents while doing so. Producer/ director/ actor Hoskins turns
the genre on its head and shows Trouver experiencing various forms of hallucination. He might have begun by visiting the FBI
Building in pursuit of a case, but by the end of the episode he is trying to cope with a turbulent state of mind.
Hoskins knows how to tell a story. He is also an aficionado of old movies, television
series and commercials; the episode is full of references to the past, both direct and indirect. Before the actual story starts,
Hoskins includes a 1942 commercial advertising Lifebuoy, the perfect cure for body odour. His speaking voice is oddly haunting,
reminiscent of Bogart yet subtly different.
If you want to hear an intriguing variation on familiar material, I suggest you download
this podcast.
