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Review: Fish In A Kettle (Fabric Studios, Liverpool)

Review by William Keeling


⭐️⭐️⭐️


Melting in a 30-degree Liverpool is the perfect backdrop for Lab Rats Collective’s Fish in a Kettle. This contemporary drama brutally presents the ‘boiling frog’ metaphor, showing the eventual consequences of our failure to respond to the gradually evolving climate crisis in a way that is meant to be “fun, playful, and genuinely engaging”. It uses Doctor Marta Payo’s scientific research from the National Oceanography Centre in Liverpool to create a world where global warming is finally catching up. The sweltering heat is a stark reminder that the flooding, which is alluded to in the sea’s revenge party, is a very possible outcome if we do not stop polluting the environment. 


From the moment you enter Fabric Studios, there is an uncomfortable atmosphere. The party already feels like it has started as well-selected disco favourites play over an ocean-lit bar. Instead of the normal red curtain separating you from the stage, there is a transparent black one that creates a sense of closeness. Then, Kate Taylor Hunter’s ‘frog in the kettle’, Penelope, hops out, reminding us of our active role whilst presenting us with fish-tailed party hats. We are told to take risks, go with our gut, and not stay with our friends, as the performers will invite us on different routes around the space. 



Once the performance begins, it is not as daunting as it sounds. For much of the party, the audience stays together in front of a photoshoot backdrop where most of the action occurs. When the performers invite us in different directions, because of the size of the space and the striking set design, most people find themselves in the dining area littered with Tesco bags and Coca-Cola cans. The shame is that you do not take in all the beautifully presented research in smaller and less eye-catching spaces. It is only at a closer glance, if you go out of your way, that you see how the drama’s key points are expanded upon by photography, artwork, and creative writing.


Even with safety in numbers, you still feel like you should not be at this party. Its purpose is for the three forms of the sea, brought to life by Anita Brokmeier, Felipe Jara, and Ellena Begley, to show the damaging impact humans are having on them through littering and how they are coming back to bite. Penelope gets the brunt of their wrath; she is, after all, slowly boiling in their kettle. Most barbed comments and insults are directed at her, and she takes them like a pro. However, we are the ones who feel the most targeted as the fifth guest at the party. Whenever the sea actors come up close, physical reactions and facial expressions show us sucking the energy out of them. This does not last long as each actor is empowered in this futuristic realm with a power we have bestowed them with to get their own back. 


Part of the way we are made to feel awkward is through the production throwing the concept of a party on its head. There is a lot of sharp choreography which is so intricate and together that you could not join in with the dancing even if you tried. Each punchy move around the immersing plastic captures the way we are sickening the sea, making it more heartbreaking than uplifting to watch. There is also food and drink at this party; however, the Coca-Cola cans are empty, and Tesco bags are on the menu. It is nauseating watching Begley’s Oracle Sal wolfing down the plastic. This is one party you don’t want to find yourself at.


Despite being all dressed up for a party, none of the cast physically act like they are at one. Different party eras are represented in the costuming, with Brokmeier’s Coral looking like they are at a 70s Abba disco and Sal looking like they belong at one of Jay Gatsby’s parties. However, they are angry and awkward in their interactions with each other, the audience and the objects around them. Even the frog is not having a whale of a time as the boiling kettle sound effects and reddening disco ball equivalent show what is coming to it and the audience. 


As an overall performance, you do find your focus being pulled in different directions. Whilst most people stick to the same track through the space, other routes that directors Hunter and Brokmeier have carved out sometimes complement and sometimes distract from it. Hearing heavy breathing or shouting in another location can add to the points being made about the sea’s plight in your particular area, and you feel that all the scenes are working together to create an overall effect. Sometimes, though, you find your eye being drawn to a sudden action elsewhere in the building, which makes you lose track of the interaction you are currently watching. As it is so wordy and abstract, you need to be ultra-focused to follow what is going on, and sometimes you do lose connection.


Penelope anchors the performance with the scouse voice. Whilst her performance is just as in-your-face as her co-stars, there is a vulnerability that seeps into it at the end, which has been missing throughout the evening. This makes her case for change hit home as we feel that she is one of us. Hearing this, as the weakening and empowering physical theatre of the different seas goes on in the background, makes you leave the venue feeling like you need to make a difference. That is, once you realise the performance has actually finished.


Overall, the performance does get its points across on climate change, but its busy nature hinders its clarity at times. Its expertly crafted atmosphere succeeds in making you feel like you are the problem in the most surreal night out you have ever experienced. There is a very creative and captivating case in there for saving the environment if you take the time to look for it.


Fish in a Kettle plays at Fabric Studios, Liverpool, until 30th May.

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