Wild Thing: a creatively nourished theatrical piece which, intriguingly, springs from literally nothing. It’s definitely a Wild Thing.
This is a piece of performance art cum theatre about extinction in which Tom Bailey highlights the mass of endangered and near-extinct species by utilising creativity. Upon entry to the space, the audience is greeted not only by the contorted shape of the performer’s body (Tom Bailey), but by a variety of obscure animal species. The Mechanimal team cleverly twist a playful, dynamic and daring piece of animal theatre into a heartfelt narrative about extinction.
Wild Thing places animals at its heart, and of course, the human body, which ultimately makes it the touching piece that it is. Bailey’s performance is raw and intensely committed. Within 20 minutes of this show, you are left transfixed by Bailey’s ability to conjure such sounds and figures of expression with a human body. Though in fact this becomes far more interesting later on, as the brevity of these animal lives is stressed and the audience understands the human complicity in the act of extinction. Personally, the initial section exploring the limitless bounds of Bailey’s animal impression creativity lost its wonder after a while and could have happened with more pace. That is not to say the silliness which the performer exhibits is not contagious in this production – it leaves you bold in determination.
The diverse range of species is deliberately unnerving in its blend of the human and animal. The end of Bailey’s performance seemed a little brief, however, and Wild Thing struggles in some ways to strike a balance between the imaginary, the creative and the real. Audience participation seems unnecessary in this production and instead appears intended to enliven and inspire the audience members after the lengthy animal impressions. The sound design by Xavier Velastin lacked impact and needed more strength to match Bailey’s strong-willed animal impressions. Though it did create a peaceful, calming backdrop to the first half of the show, which settled the audience appropriately and juxtaposed the strangeness of Bailey’s animalistic perceptions.
The piece, by its close, offers a quiet call to arms, and one which inspires audience members to action. Tom Bailey cleverly sculpts a connection to his animal fantasy. And this is something that audience members can invest in more easily than a wholly factual piece. The audience is left with little hope, essentially, and is connected to Bailey’s stellar performance.
