Writers and Directors: Phoebe Spence-Evans and Tim Jan Eichelbaum
Mushrooms and humanity are closely aligned as Phoebe Spence-Evans and Tim Jan Eichelbaum’s new play suggests. Their premise that ‘everyone becomes a mushroom sooner or later’ is the start of a strange sci-fi journey into connectedness and climate change. But this 40-minute celebration of the spore barely touches on why the writers have chosen the humble mushroom as the future of mankind, its role in medical treatments and dietary benefits or even the dangers of fungal imbalance within the body.
this is not about death, playing at the Camden People’s Theatre, is not really about mushrooms at all but the possibility of loss and what it means to outlive someone you care for. The premise is a simple one; two friends meet in a forest every day to play a game of catch and commune with nature. Humans are turning into mushrooms and one of them believes they are on the cusp of transformation, so this conversation explores how their interaction could overcome the anticipated physical boundary between them.
Spence-Evans and Eichelbaum explain very little about their scenario. It takes place in an unspecified location and time period between two people whose relationship to one another is never clarified. Nothing happens for a long time as the pair catch a ball while counting, trying to beat the previous day’s record. The audience learns nothing more about the lives of either; their ages, jobs, lifestyles and backgrounds remain a mystery, as do their reasons for being in the woods every day. Their sole communication is principally about the value and brilliance of mushrooms.
There are philosophical discussions about communicating without language and through a network of sensory perception as mushrooms do, there is a mushroom-shaped paper hat that the characters wear when trying to commune with the forest’s mushroom kingdom and there is a meditative process that takes both characters into what seems to be a hallucinogenic state as that connection envelops them.
This is staged as a lengthy movement piece in UV light in which the performers brush their hands against the taped floor markings revealing a dust that clings to their fingers, faces and clothing. Each sweep against the metal tape is denoted by a musical trill soon punctuated by a telepathic exchange between the characters manifested as a voice-over that suggests successful integration with the fungal network.
Spence-Evans and Eichelbaum are engaging performers but what their show is trying to say is far less clear. The long individual scenes seem detached from those that came before and the humanity of love, loss and grief is only vaguely referenced. This opaqueness is clearly the point and there is an interesting array of dramatic techniques employed in this is not about death, but climate change message aside, not much of this makes sense to the bewildered audience. Still, at only 40-minutes, there is clearly ‘mushroom’ for development.
Runs until 30 August 2022
2 Comments
I saw this performance … as part of the audience I personally was not bewildered.. surely you shouldn’t assume others views … just your own opinion ..unless you were telepathic like a mushroom and could read all our minds.
My view… it didn’t seem important what lives these performers had … like in life you just knew they were friends and loss was getting closer.. their lives only would be revealed after they ended up as a mushroom when they go back to the Earth. As friends it seemed the one was trying get a plan before hand ,so they could communicate after the sad event … this still happens today with many people going to spiritualists .. my fav part was the UV light showing the spores floating in our air … we forget what we can’t see or breath in the air and how our movement on earth can effect all our lives. This was a clever effect. reminded me of my physics class and Brownian motion
Part of your review was nicely done and of cause your views.. just wanted to add another audiences perspective of the show.
What i do like all these actors encourage us to use our theatres and give us a night out and for free
Best wishes
I saw this performance the first night and thought it was an interesting piece of theatre, very engaging and gave food for thought on the concept of deriving from and to mushrooms. Visually the UV lighting and the touch floor effect with the UV dust (Don know the technical term) added to the concept as some mushrooms do glow as far as I am aware. Even with a few minor hitches (1st night and all that) the actors were engaging and what I thought was a concept that we eventually become one with the earth. I liked the emphasis on the planet and how mankind is wasting earth. As I said at the start interesting and I think it thought provoking piece. Well done for their piece and hope to see them in the future.