What I Heard About The World

Think of a Blue Peter summer expedition crossed with Bang Goes the Theory and you’ll have an approximation of the feel of this eclectic devised piece which rummages around in the world and extracts its quirks.

Three men sit in a set strewn with idiosyncratic objects: a chemist shop sign, a life-ring, a stag’s head, a stuffed fox, a coat stand. These objects reflect the diverse nature of this unusual show which attempts to sum up the world in a series of anecdotes, amusingly illustrated by the three performers using props, languages and a guitar.

All the anecdotes tell of fakery and deception: so we hear of donkeys being painted like zebras in Gaza zoo, a ‘confession’ phone line called The Line of the Lord, robots dressed as children camel-racing in the United Arab Emirates. The trio demonstrate a ‘solution’ to global warming by drinking salt water in the manner of a science experiment, and convey a massacre by spraying red paint from a water gun. A fish tank doubles as the ocean crash site of a jumbo jet, cardboard cut-outs demonstrate the five sanctioned men’s haircuts in North Korea.

This collaboration between Sheffield-based Third Angel and Portuguese company Mala Voadora—the result of considerable research and ‘story-mapping’—is entertaining, inventive and hugely informative. Not all the stories come off successfully, at times the piece loses flow, and the sound balance doesn’t seem quite sorted yet. But you’re certain to come away knowing more about the world than you did.