Sludge Bank | Chance Collective
Strong Offering from Chance Collective for their latest production, Sludge Bank, presented as part of the Young Artist Forum. It’s a creative development, introduced as a work in progress, but it’s pretty darn tight for a new work. It’s a macabre horror comedy with pointed side-eye, and the target for its wrath are the ever-proliferating subservient capitalists who masquerade as eco-warriors. Careful, they could be looking at you.
Welcome to the apartment of your inner-city dwelling dreams, complete with all the usual annoying neighbours and the soulless body corporate, but this time there is something else sharing the building with you. It’s an anthropomorphized sludge, highly toxic, vivacious, and definitely your fault it’s there, and also your job to clean it up.
It’s a fun show, lots of laughs, a musical number... but just one, if you were worried. It’s got a range of props and almost-puppets, that perhaps might be added to in the next iteration.
A range of stereotypical characters are presented, each who is off to save the world but is ultimately self-serving. The performances were wickedly good. Everyone fancies the effervescent Siobhan Gibbs who makes one hell of a demon from the wasteful underworld. But she was backed up by sterling performances from Victoria Barlow, Sho Eba and Aurora Liddlle-Christie. I actually did a double take when I saw Aurora’s name in the credits afterwards cause I’ve only seen them present performance poetry before now, and they thoroughly embodied the keyboard conspiracist George so much that I did not recognise them. The emotional range of the three householders was really superb, I was impressed. And very amused. And highly entertained.
Stereotyped urban apartment dwellers, the new-age hippy mum who will consume everything in the pursuit of purity, the urban-organiser who is actually in it for ego and glory, and the aforementioned reddit denizen were all instantly recognisable tropes. At the end of the day, they are all capitalist simps, each one deluded in their own special way and believing they are somehow exempt from the system.
As I said, for a creative development it’s pretty tight, it could probably lose just a minute from every other scene, it needs just a pinch of dramaturgy to iron that story arc right out, but the energy is strong and its mere moments away from showing up on big stage in your regular programming. Good vibes, would recommend.
It’s favourite kind of critique of the neo-corporate capitalist system. One that gives you a reminder to keep an eye on your consumer spending power and keep your ego in check, cause yes, if you are not part of the solution, you are most definitely part of the problem. Yes it’s kind of like your eccentric aunt is scolding you but with added songs and belly laughs and stupid jokes and weird puppets and strange voiceovers and homemade props and hilarious antics and cool hair. Ah art, it’s the best way to grow as a person.
