Shay Mace
Welcome to the bizarre world of WacDonalds, a technicolour theme park created by Theatre Group GUMBO to explore late stage capitalism and American neo-imperialism through surreal Dadaist clowning. The results are an intoxicating, cartoonish and ludicrous environment satirising Western impressions of Japanese culture, and the foreboding presence of Donald Trump’s America in pushing fascist politics to a global scale. You’ll need a thick stomach, both literally and figuratively, to get into it, but if you do, you’ll find Are You Lovin’ It? side-splittingly funny.
Through earworm-worthy song, highly physical clowning, and well-realised character comedy, GUMBO ask us to turn the mirror on our perceptions of Japan. An overworked businessman has arrived on his first vacation, and he’s already spent the first ten minutes of it handing out his business cards to the audience while enthusiastically praising his boss. A young Japanese mother clad in ‘Krazy Kitty’ plush pink get-up feeds her baby only with WacDonalds’ horrifying fast food meals. It’s kitsch, full-fat, at times a little too on-the-nose, but vastly entertaining nonetheless.
Audience participation becomes a lynchpin to engage our preconceptions, prejudices and vices, as we are given Happy Meal toys that unlock the truths buried in our imperialistic souls. Cast off your inhibitions, and you’ll access a biting satire that is equal parts disturbing as it is joyful, engrossing and sadistic. A latter ‘Human Check’ section that invites audience members to the stage does become a little repetitive, but this is soon twisted back into the narrative to deliver a satisfying finish.
One of the pure joys of Are You Lovin’ It is sinking into the kaleidoscopic world of props, set pieces, costumes and toys that the trio have created to deliver their hysterical antics. They are never a crutch, but instead add more detail to the terrifying story-world that quite too often dangerously reflects our own. It’s a parallel universe that feels alarmingly near, put together seamlessly and delivered whole-heartedly.
There are moments in a theatre you never forget, and as I sat watching the WacDonalds waitress limbo under a ten-foot long set of rotten intestines, I realised I was deep in one. There’s gusto and buckets of odd charm to this show that are offered to us at break-neck pace, inspired by the most outlandish elements of stage clowning that can be achieved in the boundaries of a Fringe stage.
As we witness a near-global regression into fascist politics, we should be glad that companies like Theatre Group GUMBO are willing to flash the most outrageous satirical concepts at vast scale.
This preposterous, enthralling, laugh-a-minute jumble through the worst of humanity, and how we got here, delivers a powerful message, and even more powerful belly-laughs. Doo doo doo do-do.
Recommended Drink: Pair this with an XXL WacDonalds Shake – just be sure to mix in all the things you want to get rid of about yourself.
Performances of Are You Lovin’ It? have now concluded at Thessaloniki Fringe 2026.
