Words: Elodie Marriott
Image: Dylan Howells

3 stars

Joe Sellman-Leava promises to be neutral in his explanation of how the economy dominates our lives. Dylan Howells is there to regulate his inevitable passionate outbursts. The set is filled with cardboard boxes, inked with caricatures and projected with both archival and domestic images. This represents how decisions made in the past come to affect the present and the family in life-altering ways.

It’s the Economy, Stupid! is concisely informative and oddly cathartic. It educates against the capitalist mantra that if you’re poor, you’re just not working hard enough. There can be a lot of shame around money, so by voicing these secret fears, the show lifts a weight off of struggling shoulders. Interspersed with close-up magic tricks and convincing impressions, they expose money saving myths, confirming that no matter how many coffees you resist buying, you’ll still not have enough for a deposit.

Sellman-Leava personalises this information with an affecting story about how bankruptcy impacts families. He connects the state of the economy to societal responses, telling us how economic frustration can lead to hate, the desperate looking for someone to blame, and how it’s rarely the correct direction that the fingers are pointing.

It’s the Economy, Stupid! is powerful and timely, a necessary reminder that you’re not alone and it’s not all your fault.

It’s the Economy, Stupid!
Pleasance Dome – Jack Dome,
13:10
Aug 10-13, 15-20, 22-26