I always like to add in a couple of wildcards in my Camden Fringe viewing, and this year Dregs is a pretty strong contender for the weirdest show on the block. Showing at the Libra Theatre Cafe, where I caught its first performance tonight, this is a very strange comedy/clown show that revels in chaos and confusion.
Written and directed by Ella Talerico, it concerns two “lost souls rummaging through the spiritual rubbish heap of life”. Neck (Ivy Schenk) and Fisch (Vi To) make pointed comments and engage physically with the world in which they find themselves. A neon sign in the space highlights “An Immaterial Landfill”, and as the two performers enter the space, they trail costumes made up of plastics, metals, and mouldy food.
Talerico wants to share her vision of over-consumption and consumerism with us, but also adds a layer of sexual discussion which is not fully explored. Neck has a lengthy monologue about achieving orgasm, while Fisch describes the biological need for the body to seek out physical pleasure over and over, but what does the process of sex have to do with the morality of the modern world?
The two also seem to have an intense friendship that is both love and hate, perhaps heightened by their close proximity. They search for food and knowledge, while becoming extremely unsettled when another person appears on the scene. We don’t see him, but we – and they – hear his moans and sobs off-stage.
Dregs is provocative theatre, and certainly throws in a few interesting ideas on how we have found ourselves in an era where we seem to be actively destroying the planet. Using a rubbish tip as a comment on the collapse of the world isn’t a new idea: you may recall the British black comedy film The Bed Sitting Room (1969) or even Beckett’s play Happy Days (1961).
In Schenk and To’s accomplished clowning and reactions, in particular Fisch’s constant crushing of bugs with the exultation ‘be free’, we are sucked into a situation that goes further than basic absurdity – yet it still leaves a gap between what they are trying to say to us and what we understand. At present, this is a show that does serve to challenge us. but also leaves us scratching our heads about the meaning.
I’m giving this 3 because it is a perfect example of the work that Fringe does best, in terms of trying something new and pushing both performers and audience out of their comfort zone. It doesn’t quite work across its hour of running time, but there is definitely a future in the material.
Dregs continues at Camden Fringe until 19 Aug, and then heads to Edinburgh Fringe from 24-29 Aug.