Reviewed by Caroline Stafford
Hell on Earth is perhaps the most topical show at this year’s Fringe Festival. Brought to Perth by Sarah Fitzgerald and Aquilla Sorensen, this onstage road trip will take you through a landscape of fact and fiction in order to find some truth in questions about the sustainability and ethics of our current consumerist dystopia.
While there are always unique shows at Fringe, this particular act is unique in its uniqueness. Partly the story of Bert and Ernie’s run from the law, who are being hunted for an unknown and unrevealed crime, it is also partly informative, stopping to give the audience facts and figures about animal abuse in the agricultural sector (sourced chiefly from the Farm Transparency Project). Despite the initial pared-back, bare-bones vibe to Hell on Earth, the narrative is bursting with detail. At times this can overwhelm and distort the central road trip come getaway narrative, but it does weave together nicely to give an overall sense of urgency and vague chaos. It is a testament to the professionalism and well-honed acting craft of Fitzgerald and Sorensen that the work doesn’t veer and spiral out of control, the performers keeping a tight rein on the careening storyline and using their informational interludes to anchor the audience in the themes of the show. Additionally, their approachable on-stage personas create an air of safety throughout the show, vital when some of their harsh truths may risk alienating inflexible attendees.
Another impressive element of the work is the performers' use of props and a dynamic open performance space to create dimension and engage the audience. This ranged from tyres that were used as cars, moved to be rest stops and clambered up upon, to a suspicious barrel that the audience is encouraged to sniff, which gave an added olfactory dimension to the scene before them. Whether it is by necessity or design, the ‘scrappy’ look of the stage adds to the bohemian-cool, but strangely urgent nature of the show. This, combined with plenty of crowd work, makes the audience feel like they are a part of some sort of collective action meeting like it’s a call to arms.
In a world where everything we could ever possibly want is just a click away, and where we are so far separated from the meat and agriculture industries that we’ve forgotten that the milk on our cornflakes was originally intended to nourish a baby calf, Hell on Earth seeks to bring up to date with the reality of things. It’s a siren song for solidarity, played out on rubbish bin lids and hollow boxes. The only risk is that the call might be coming from inside the house - perhaps due to the venue’s location in hippie central Freo, they might find themselves preaching to the already converted. Regardless, this smashing social satire will have audiences talking and, hopefully, they will be discussing the revolution.
Reviewed Note: Tickets for this review were provided by the theatre company.
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