Maia Kahn
Five East Asian theatre artists set out to redefine ritual and marry each other, and the result is a whipsmart and playful journey into what it means to be a partner, to make a commitment, to build a life — romantic, platonic, creative, and otherwise. Ensemble Not Found’s The Radical Wedding Engine, devised by the company through the Live Drafts programme at the Yard Theatre and the Making Space residency at Battersea Arts Centre, feels like a match that’s built to last, and takes joy in the upkeep even the most blessed union entails. As the marketing copy puts it, “Marriage is a work in progress.”
The show consists of a number of scenes metatheatrically exploring the expectations that come along with both marriage and theatremaking. Some sections focus on Chinese traditions, others on individual perspectives, others on the collective’s relationships to each other. Each one is visually and thematically rich, giving the piece a pleasing fluidity (Elisabeth Gunaw acts as dramaturg here, with Sabrina Basilio as associate). Some of my favourite moments included shadow puppetry under a table and acrobatically attempting to recreate stock wedding photos. In Nefeli Kentoni’s scenography, costumes gently enhance each persona from everyday attire to wedding garb, and there are a lot of clever tricks with projections, sound (by Jovienne Jin) and props.
Each performer/character forms a distinct but nuanced component of the quintet. Ting-Ning Wen reflects on turning 33 when she thought she’d marry at 26, wondering if people, like food, have a “Best By” date. He Zhang is eager to be included while concerned about how he looks as the only guy. Kiki Ye’s punctuation of the scenes with questions about what the show is doing dramaturgically is funny and self aware in a way that works, and her monologue about how both theatre and marriage require a relationship to happen is particularly poignant. Xiaonan Wang has a great skill at embodying action and Vivi Wei is a commanding stage presence whose dry comedy has a controlled emotional charge. The sequence toward the end that finds all of the members taking turns practising their vows before the “ceremony” begins is beautifully absorbing.
Ensemble Not Found has put the “experiment” back in “experimental theatre,” having constructed a genuinely original show that celebrates the absurdity and sincerity of love and art at the same time.
Champagne Cocktail
The Radical Wedding Engine
Performance Dates- Sat 7 Nov 2026
- Sun 8 Nov 2026
Five people decide to get married. To each other. Sort of. But how do you build a wedding when the rules don’t quite fit? The Radical Wedding Engine is a playful experiment in marriage, chosen…
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