Presented by Squid Vicious, the moist love-child of Perth and Singapore. Squid Vicious’ beaky mouth aims to kiss dominant narratives into submission while their tentacles reach towards the intercultural, the interdisciplinary, and the Queer. Like Kuo Pao Kun, they believe that a worthy failure is more valuable than a mediocre success, and like Tina Turner, they believe in doing it nice and rough. Squid Vicious makes independent theatre for a hot ocean; serving diverse morsels of contemporary performance on a platter.
Squid Vicious’ latest offering POORLY DRAWN SHARK, written by Andrew Sutherland, performed by Ming Yang Lim and Sutherland, created with Vidya Rajan and directed by Jo Lui, turns these morsels into one almighty feast and I for one loved every single bite.
POORLY DRAWN SHARK
Andrew moves to Singapore, where his features shine and his skin is extra-white. But, in profile, he still looks like a child’s drawing of a shark. And he must keep moving forward, though he smells blood.
Superiority tackles self-loathing in this two-hander show that really hates itself, but still thinks it’s better than you. POORLY DRAWN SHARK is a brutal attack on conventional storytelling: drenched in salt water and biting hungrily at Australia’s fetishisation of Asia.
Nauseating, grotesquely funny and brutally aware, prepare to Eat, Prey, Hate in this autobiographical takedown of western travel narratives. POORLY DRAWN SHARK sees theatre-maker Sutherland (Unveiling: Gay Sex for Endtimes) dredging the shallowest of waters: himself.
50 SHADES OF F&@KING BRILLIANT
I’m not entirely sure I know how or where to start with what went down (literally and figuratively) at The Blue Room Theatre last night. The shows coming out of The Blue Room Theatre for Summer Nights and part of Fringe World 2019 just keep getting better and better. Last night’s offering POORLY DRAWN SHARK was no exception.
Keeping in mind, I’m fairly open-minded, not easily offended and a seasoned (aka old) theatregoer… I was still apprehensive going into this show given the warnings, thinking it might have been a little too Fringe, even for me. So far though, in all my years reviewing there has only ever been the one show that I just couldn’t swallow or write home about.
Speaking of swallowing. The warnings include… frequent coarse language, sexual references, mental health themes, loud noises and one pretty impressive, practically award-winning, simulated sex scene. All served up so deliciously with more than a side serving of humour that you’re left more than satisfied but essentially hungry for more.
Apart from being impressed by the sheer brilliance of the performance and show itself, I haven’t laughed so hard at the theatre for a long time. The intertwining storyline interlocks impressively much like the performers themselves and as well as tickling my funny bone, I now have a hankering for Singapore noodles, in Singapore and I can’t seem to get the song ‘Baby Shark’, which makes more than an appearance throughout, out of my head.
If there was a Fringe award going for simulated sex scenes Sutherland and Lim would be in with one almighty chance instead they’ll have to be content with “the 2019 Fringe show that made me laugh the hardest”.
Can’t wait to see what these guys do next. I imagine anything they put their hands to is going to be all kinds of fabulous.
POORLY DRAWN SHARK
The Studio at The Blue Room Theatre
22 – 26 January at 7:30 pm
