Crossing the divide of the proscenium arch is something on which Mongrel Mouth pride themselves.
Not content to perform to static audiences, they encourage their crowds to actively partake in – and dictate the direction of – their work. Rarely is interactive work so wholly immersive as their newest, Like Me, a bizarre journey into an alien world with a group of characters whose core traits are surprisingly close to home.
The advertising leads us to believe that we’re entering an asylum, whose inmates are obsessed with themselves. Materialistic and gauche, they’ve created a kingdom of sorts with its own internal economy – one that you as an audience member can contribute to or destabilise at your whim.
How this plays out is, of course, up to a number of factors: the kind of audience you’ve ended up with, how willing you are to participate, and how you perceive the agendas of the characters put before you. As for the actors, they rely heavily on stock behaviours (being flirty or gross, coquettish or bragging) and the grotesque physicality of bouffon clowning to communicate with you. It’s a technique that can be at times very distancing, but it takes a great deal of commitment from the performers.
As an exercise in design, Like Me is a triumph. The world of the asylum is lovingly crafted from broken tech, computers and lighting, and Merchants House is utterly transformed. Each character is dressed in bold colour with ridiculous adornments and engorged genitals, and the way in which they carry themselves and interact with the audience is appalling and hilarious.
My own experience took on a revelatory fashion: as the night wound to its conclusion, confronting my own complicity became a very strong focal point. It was invigorating to feel as if I had my own character journey, and to have real impact in this constructed world.
At times the choices in language can feel out of sync – on the whole, the performers are not committed to English that’s either perfect or wholly broken, resulting in a strange communication gap. Owing to the clarity and relative simplicity of the tale on offer, this isn’t a play-breaking issue, but it may be a deciding factor in how well some audiences take to the form.
For an engrossing night of theatre that’s very far left of field, Like Me can’t be missed.
4/5 stars
Like Me is playing at Merchants House, The Rocks until Saturday July 11.
