A meticulously crafted, thrilling forty minutes of exhilarating unease that will have you screaming into your pillow by nightfall. This is fringe theatre at its finest.Rating
Unmissable!
There’s a creature – or two – in the cellar of the Frankenstein mansion, and as a guest on Victor’s wedding night, they’re coming to find you, ready or not. Performed for a single individual in the murky Boat Tunnel at Colab Tower, Creature by Peter Broughton is a meticulously crafted, thrilling forty minutes of apprehension, unease and fright that will have you screaming into your pillow by nightfall. Based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this exhilarating immersive experience is one you certainly won’t forget in a hurry. Creature is fringe theatre at its finest.
A creepy henchman (Puck Wyse) immediately sets a tone of uncertainty and danger. Before even setting foot through the door, choices that challenge and unsettle must be made, using illusion and an unflinching gaze to intimidate and unnerve. Swiftly, you’re within the darkened chamber and seated in an ancient wheelchair, where a vintage TV presents news about Victor’s imminent wedding and information on family deaths that later return to haunt you. Equipped with headphones and a discordant soundscape of white noise, bizarre music and sound (Hanna Gardner), your rendezvous with the Creature begins: hold tight to that chair.
Creature is sensorily electrifying and superb storytelling. The wheelchair spins and thrusts as you’re pushed throughout the ominous space, like the waltzers at a funfair; disorientating but intensely exciting. Scenes flash rapidly into place in often-cinematic tableaux, and piercing torchlight (executed entirely manually) directs your attention, framing breathtaking images key to the moment. Video clips spotlight the human story, but project it onto distorted planes, suggesting the Creature’s maladjusted perspective. Jump scares startle as characters transgress your proximity, while flurries of snow delight and poured petrol menaces. A sense of journeying and spatial uncertainty is underscored by detailed shadow puppetry, and indeed you’re never quite sure where you are or who is behind you in this vault of disquiet (it’s actually the seamlessly integrated team of Jessica Southwood, Elena Sirett, Alice Elsie Thomas, Broughton and Wyse).
Central is a huge, fragmented puppet. A colossal Borg-like head conjoins with a separate arm and body to form the Creature, with a literal human heart within. Created by Broughton, it speaks to the essence of the novel, drawing together notions of the human and non-human to relate the legendary tale palpably, while dominating the space and claiming its story through physical presence. Familiar materials in its fabric disturbingly juxtapose recollections of childhood with horror, and further excellent puppets go on to explore this concept brilliantly. The Creature’s bride, seemingly part-human, part-object, is additionally striking, her face masked but mutilated, her movement disturbingly insect-like and sci-fi.
An unexpectedly broad range of emotional responses are generated that enfold and whirl with you. It’s thrilling and scary, yes, but at times deeply poignant, reflecting unattainable love, family and tragic decisions. There’s even bizarre humour, with laughter and loss united in an incongruous, challenging choice of closing song. Questions of trust and choice actively test the participant throughout – from when you hand over your bag on arrival, the door remaining firmly shut for several minutes before anyone returns, to your selection of items that may or may not influence events.
There’s no underestimating the holistic craft of this production. Having sat with it in my head for 24 hours, I’m still recalling details that feed the themes, ignite visceral, exhilarating responses, yet respectfully investigate the source material. And still it’s a tiny fringe production! I would love to see this show perhaps extended across several rooms, making full use of the Creature’s unique perspective to test our own moral principles, in a time where the world is routinely witnessing ‘others’ dehumanised.
Creator: Peter Broughton
Illusion consultant: Puck Wyse
Sound designer and composer: Hanna Gardner
Textile and graphic design: Audrey Rodriguez
Creature plays at Colab Tower until Saturday 17 July
