The clink­ing of cut­lery and mum­bled con­ver­sa­tion greet us as we walk into the the­atre. Blue glow­ing lines show the edges of the fish­tank. It’s a sparse place but I guess the fish aren’t there to live. Blue Cod (Hweil­ing Ow) is prepar­ing to be cho­sen. She is joined unex­pect­ed­ly by Cray­fish (Bem­jamin Teh) who is a bit more world­ly than she is.
This is an absur­dist play where noth­ing much hap­pens. Scenes bub­ble up and resolve into some­thing else as reli­gion, cli­mate change, envi­ron­men­tal activism, and the ethics of food are exam­ined. Occa­sion­al­ly the exter­nal world intrudes – these are the most inter­est­ing parts of the show for me. I par­tic­u­lar­ly like the sec­tion when Blue Cod realis­es just what being cho­sen will mean. Both actors use spec­tac­u­lar cos­tumes (by Sarah Bur­ren) to advan­tage. Sparkles and mul­ti­ple appendages enhance their phys­i­cal move­ment and pro­vide some fun for the audi­ence.

  • Bub­ble­lands by Renee Liang direct­ed by Aman­da Grace Leo on at BATS The­atre to 17 Octo­ber 2015