I don’t think it’s truly the Fringe until you come across a piece of performance that challenges the way that you perceive storytelling and transports you to a completely different place, even when you have no idea where you have been taken to. It’s another thing entirely when you find yourself completely immersed in that world and quickly attached to the obscure characters and the environment that they have created out of so little. Zoe accomplishes exactly this, running from the 3rd – 15th August at Assembly Roxy at 3:30pm.
Physical theatre company A Good Catch bring a visual spectacle in the form of acrobatics, gymnastics, circus arts and clownwork, three performers working together as one cohesive and incredibly impressive unit. Everything in their triumphant displays of physicality seems perfectly placed and very deliberate, every movement motivated by another or by the piece’s stimulus.
Debra Batton, Sharon Gruenert & Spenser Inwood are nothing short of stunning as they work in tandem with and in response to each other, creating a curious and urgent exploration of the vast and, at times, bizarre environment they have managed to manifest within the Roxy Central venue. The acrobatics performed in the piece are challenging, exhilarating and performed with such a passion that the time rushes by you before you even know it.
Zoe addresses itself as ‘a response to the trans-species commodification of life that is advanced capitalism’, a topic that can seem daunting to some audiences, but the physical storytelling provided by the company is accessible and immersive, even if thematic layers are often lost in the chaos. Those that do not feel part of the conversation that the piece is attempting to start will still be invited to be a part of the world that they have created, and simply bask in its existence rather than question why it exists.
Zoe is a peculiar show, that some may suggest asks more questions than it answers. However, in a festival where something that has never been seen before is a rare commodity, Zoe is a mesmerising experience that is surely not to be missed for any audience member interested in the unspoken.
