Three, two, one, go: The Crawl begins. The Voloz Collective performers are off, charging into the auditorium, desperately searching for audience members to partake in some high-octane participation. Steve races against Mytha, and it is the race of their lifetime. Through physical comedy and a plethora of humorous props, the audience becomes immersed in a piece of parody, joy and absolute playfulness. Yet, it is gripping, involved and highly animated. This is a tale of love among enemies, deliberately clichéd, in which the passion and joy of swimming is depicted with furious enthusiasm. Swimming becomes a livelihood and the sole focus of this physically strenuous piece. The characters suffocate under the pressure of swimming.
The two Lecoq-trained performers, Ellie Whittaker and Alexander Burnett, perform their roles with mastery. They are fully committed to their often-bizarre roles and it is impressive how caricatured these two actors become in their style. At points, their performance is so impressive that the characters simply spring to life like a Disney cartoon due to the rapid, stylised movements the performers adopt. All feels so genuinely real yet also playful and intensely silly. They are bold and fearless, whilst also conveying a gripping and playful story. I did feel, at points, that the pair of actors struggled to swim in a synchronised way, their actions slightly out of touch with one another in places. If only the pair had been more uniform in their actions, the performance would have been more awe-inspiring to observe, in terms of their physicality. The drama in The Crawl would have been alive. Similarly, in the first half of this production, things were not wholly humorous or altogether lively, although once the audience became more involved and the actors developed a greater relationship with the audience, the production became more harmonious.
The Crawl is a masterclass in effectively encouraging audience interaction, with audience members springing to life on command and offering suitably silly suggestions. At the start, the format or storyline was not clear, I did not feel, though as the piece continued, I was desperate to be either Chad, the goody-two-shoes lifeguard, or even play the supportive parent to Steve. As the play is so heavily reliant on participation from the spectators, the actors are competent in utilising the audience material and this is spectacular to witness live on stage. The audience swim through a variety of roles from lifeguard to spectator, adopting these with ease.
It is an insane production, and whilst the action inside the pool could be more impressive, this is a tantalising, good-time show which truly gets the heart racing with joy and hilarity. No one, neither audience nor performers, is left treading water.
