Review: TESTO, Battersea Arts Centre

Drenched in eerie green and red light, Wet Mess’ Testo is a unique, subversive trip through masculinity, transness, and queer identity. A hidden gem of last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, this inventive piece fuses drag king performance with verbatim and cabaret, incorporating the voices of people who have started taking testosterone.

As the performance begins and the auditorium descends into darkness, words appear in red, held up on a screen. We are invited into an uncanny dream, as descriptions and questions roll in and out, like an unsettling lullaby. As the calm is burst by an electric, cheeky movement sequence, drag icon Wet Mess pulls us into reality with swagger and charm.

Dreams are a central theme of Testo - while the piece feels like a fever dream, it also twists the word’s meaning and examines the attainability of transmasculinity. ‘This is not a dream’ reads the screen: control of your body and identity is possible and within reach. Wet Mess manages to tap into real experiences without any lines of conventional dialogue, which is particularly impressive.

The show is also a visual spectacle: Testo unfolds in front of a sci-fi-looking red backdrop, and vibrant lighting means the space is constantly evolving, the tone always shifting. Set designer Ruta Irbīte and lighting designer Joshie Harriette really expand the world Wet Mess has created, alongside Costume Designer Lambdog1066. The performer produces surreal limb-shaped props from under the stage that serve an array of purposes - every part of this show's design is treated with humour and creativity.

Where this show could be even stronger is in its pacing. Every so often there’s a lull, leaving too much of a gap between memorable moments and keeping the show from being hit after hit. It could perhaps also use slightly more of a through-line, tying each surreal sequence together.

Testo is undeniably a show that pushes boundaries: with more nudity than you’d expect for a 7.30pm curtain, it may not be one for the parents. However, none of it is gratuitous: Wet Mess uses their body to make a point, or rather several. The result is a show that’s boldly experimental without ever losing its sense of fun and imagination. 

I’d tell you to get tickets, but the whole run is sold out. Keep an eye on what Wet Mess does next. 

Cover Image Credit: Lesley Martin

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