The Wreck theatre review: Dream-like immersion
Live projection and minimal dialogue proves to be fully engaging
Somehow, Buzzcut Productions create an engaging narrative of sibling love and rivalry using the barest bones of dialogue and scuba-diving hand signals. Everything takes place behind a gauze screen, onto which the action is projected live. Illuminated by head torches, we see exactly how the show is made, using tiny models and intricately crafted scuba-diver puppets. Without this literal peek behind the curtain, you’d believe everything was pre-filmed and the magic would be lost. Ratmouth, a rundown seaside town, is brought to life through miniature models filmed in real time. It’s amazing how The Dancer (a struggling nightclub inherited by siblings Ira and Eddie) becomes familiar through pulsing live keyboard music, a few flashing lights and a tiny model of the exterior.
Just ten minutes into the show and we’re fully invested in the duo as they fight over the nightclub’s future, Ira’s inertia and Eddie’s marriage to the guy who cheated on him while his mum was dying. While no doubt immersive, the diving sequences lag, and, by the third trip underwater, it starts to feel repetitive. But a shipwreck manned by a magic crab changes up the pace in a moment of Wes Anderson-style surrealism. Emerging from the theatre, it’s like slowly waking from a pleasant dream.
The Wreck, Summerhall, until 31 August, 10.30am; picture: Alex Brenner.