Review: FRUITS, OR THE DECLINE OF A DISTANT MEMORY, VAULT Festival

Fruits... is a weird show - and proudly so. Created by TAKDAJA and first seen at the RADA Studios for the 2019 edition of Camden Fringe, the piece has grown bold and confident in its spirit. It's difficult to say what it is about. Mimmi Bauer, Pat Dynowska, Michał Szpak take a stab at - among other themes - gender theory, immigration, and the performative nature of religion for good measure too through kooky unrelated vignettes connected in appearance only by Theodor Spiridon's strong lighting design. Dive deeper and you'll find satirical allegories so slick they could split a hair in four.

Brazen experimentalism leans into performance art and blurs the lines of form and style with a non-narrative approach. They challenge the status quo chest first, testing the limits and the very concept of a play to introduce ideas like naked existentialism, romantic disillusionment, unilateral desire, gender expectations, cultural demands, and the juxtaposition of perception and reality. They know what they're doing. They almost mock the audience for their voyeuristic attitude with clever coups de théâtre that require as much lateral proactivity from the public.

They take over one of The Vaults' biggest spaces, arranging the seats in two single files to create a traverse stage. It's an exposing and unprotected journey. From the symbolic destruction of idols to cogitations on our immutably doomed existence, Fruits... doesn't accept the role of a passive spectator. Whether it's by directly addressing us or asking to make the effort to actually understand what's going on, it's not really easy viewing.

The outcome is as open-ended as its finale. It can be a bonkers nonsensical experience or you can work towards identifying the leitmotifs and see it for the harrowing social commentary it was designed to be. The puzzle pieces will probably click together by accident, hopefully during the show but mostly after. It's a delight to witness a young company of International Artists like TAKDAJA grow into themselves and their ethos.

Fruits, or the Decline of a Distant Memory runs at VAULT Festival until 5 March.

VAULT Festival has been left without a venue for next year. You can contribute to the #SaveVAULT campaign here.

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