Another group of creative young people has put together a Fringe show which will doubtless take them on a step learning curve, as the unforgiving realities of live performance test the validity of what probably looked promising in the devising / workshopping / rehearsal process.

In some ways, and at best, Volcanoes Are Awesome is a latter day Goon Show, a hark back to the likes of Spike Milligan and John Antrobus with its wacky characters embroiled in an absurdist plot punctuated with bursts of craziness off to the sides. At worst it is an under-rehearsed and often incoherent jumble of yet to mature ideas. On balance, I imagine it will improve as the season progresses.

Opening the show with a chanting processional entrance then huddling into a warm-up exercise while the expectant audience waits, realising it hasn’t actually started, is not a good way to begin. And dancing to a long and incomprehensible song, where what look like somewhat choreographed moves degenerate into formless dancing that resembles a party to which the audience has not been invited, is not a good way to end.

Betwixt and between, some bits have their moments: the arrogant expert lecturer; the emotionally disturbed young man from the audience; the strange people who live inside the volcano and worship the cat god, Sugarpaws, who was the only survivor of the Mount Tarawera eruption; the survival expert whose party trick is to cross his feet behind his head (a shame that only a few get a good view of that) … Some of the PowerPoint video work is good too.

There are hints of clever minds forming researched material into impressive slabs of text. A sense of structure, building to some kind of climax, lurks within the chaos. There’s even a sense of moral purpose, or a satiric swipe at one … Even so, this particular volcano has blown its top prematurely. The phrase “sound and fury signifying nothing” springs to mind too often.

And speaking of sound, the back room at the Southern Cross is not well insulated from the main bar and with a one day cricket match in full swing on opening night, the conversational tone the actors preferred for some parts meant quite a bit was lost (until a frustrated audience member asked then to speak up). The end-on acting space, on a flat floor, makes for poor sightlines too. A thrust or traverse space might work better.

Volcanoes Are Awesome is a classic case of fresh young talent grabbing the Fringe opportunity and going for it, and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of some of those involved.
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