Jake Mace
There’s something authentically ‘Fringe’ about watching a Mad Scientist train a Mushroom to walk at 1pm on a Thursday – and I’m here for it.
Madcap (excuse the pun) introspection about oppressive community structures, transhumanism, and an innate yearning to be an individual in spite of not knowing what that means, are the central wheels on which the aptly titled Mushroomification (Legs, Legs, Legs) spins.
As we enter, a lone mushroom appears in a mossy alcove of the woods, but we soon learn they are tethered – not only to the ground but to the mycelium, the network or ‘hive mind’ that connects them and their agaric brethren. They wish to break free – to discover what lies beyond the trees, and most importantly, to have a pair of legs to call their own.
Meanwhile, in a laboratory somewhere in the distance, two eccentric fungi-obsessed scientist brothers flip a coin to decide which of them will lead today’s research. Grounded and results-driven Erwin has built a ‘conjoiner’ to merge different species of shroom together, while his brother Karies is designing abstract experiments to attempt to ‘mushroomify’ the human race into one singular mycelial hive mind.
It might be easy to think all this concept is so ludicrous that it would come across as a farce – but the collective injects such an energy and dedication to telling these characters’ stories that it leaves the piece committed to its own internal logic, giving a neat and absurd flair. There are moments of humour and silliness that frame the story, yet the story of Karies driving himself to insanity over his dreams of an interconnected consciousness playing against The Mushroom’s desires to find themselves a form of freedom holds well, even if you do have to suspend your disbelief to the fullest.
Garrick Pagel and Till Schindler, who co-wrote the piece, perform dutifully as The Mushroom and Karies respectively, and as the core tension of the plot. Schindler manages to avoid the trope of ‘mad scientist’ to give Karies a unique identity though at times the bleating anger he puts across can feel repetitive, and at points I struggled to keep up with all of the dialogue. Pagel manages to put across the naivety and childlike nature of The Mushroom through wide-eyed facial expressions and through a soft, yet defiant vocal tone.
The real surprising highlight of the performances comes from Tiger Mitchell’s Erwin – though he should be playing the straight man he takes on the form of something of a hero late in the story, and Mitchell manages to strongly convey the internal battle he is facing about his brother’s obsessive behaviour and aims. As he begins to gain sympathy for The Mushroom, there’s a parental-like relationship that develops which is done with a light touch, and then bookended by plenty more laughs as we spiral deeper into what a human-mushroom hive mind might look like.
All of this is corniced by an epic soundscape from lighting and sound designer Yashique Challil, that hums in the ethereal and particularly holds you in that mossy, rich undergrowth during the scenes set in the forest. The sound design is also used strikingly, and to great humour, during a scene where Erwin is conducting an experiment on The Mushroom which invoked plenty of belly laughs in the audience. Challil makes resourceful use of the limited lighting rig to take us across the two settings – clinical laboratory and woody grove – with colour-changing LEDs a particular advantage to giving this show’s design some additional gravitas.
The set does carry a slightly cobbled-together aesthetic, the highlight definitely being Pagel’s bouncy and flamboyant mushroom costume. Elements of the set design do prove cumbersome to the cast, especially the aforementioned ‘Conjoiner’ that dominates the stage, though the piece carries a broadly organic feel. This is what the Fringe is really all about – putting together a set and costume with whatever you can find, giving dedication to telling a story no matter how wild the plot, and entertaining an audience with a few good laughs along the way.
This is a wonderfully inventive and deceptively insightful show that flirts with absurdity, yet feels surprisingly real in a world where Silicon Valley tech companies are designing ominous ways to look beyond what it means to be human and sentient.
Recommended Drink: Pair this with some Magic Mushroom tea and prepare yourself to feel at one with your new mycelium brothers.
You can catch Mushroomification (Legs, Legs, Legs) until August 5th at Just the Bottle Room at Just the Tonic at The Mash House from 12:50 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Lamesha Ruddock
Jasmine Silk
