Words: Elodie Marriott 

3 stars 

“This guy is imitating dead animals… disgusting!” 

Wild Thing! has a minimalistic set design. A projector beams animal names onto the wall, a backpack is slumped in the corner, and off-centre sits a large, plastic box of bones. The prop choices, while simple, are visually striking and intriguing. The rapid replacement of one animal with another cleverly communicates the pace at which species become endangered and extinct due to human intervention. 

The performance begins with absurd and amusing mimicries, the actor adapting his physicality to suit whichever creature is named. As the White Footed Sportive Lemur switches to the Polymorphic Robber Frog, he puffs out his cheeks and leaps out of a headstand to rifle through an audience member’s bag. 

Eventually, the mood shifts from silly to solemn. The miscellaneous remains are flung from their container, obscuring the floor as they clatter across the stage. This tonal contrast makes the voiceover warnings from environmental experts all the more sobering. 

For the finale, we’re invited to introduce ourselves as the animal we identify as (our spirit species, of course) to the stranger in the next chair. A playful request, but also an excellent exercise in empathy, personalising the problem and firmly impressing upon us the show’s message: the Earth and all it’s inhabitants deserve protecting.

Wild Thing!
TechCube 0 at Summerhall 
13:30 
21-25 Aug