Melbourne Reviews

Part interactive theatre, part performance art, with an extensive offerings of mini-desserts, Liminal Treats by Scratch Arts is a tricky show to pinpoint, even by Fringe standards.

Audience interactivity is a requisite, as it involves walking around an outdoor space observing creatures from the future, summoned by a special time machine, all facilitated by an eccentric PhD candidate in a teal lab coat. 

Science and seance intersect for a sc-eance. The premise allows for a quirky, unconventional show that doesn't take itself too seriously but does bring up interesting issues around humanity and sustainability. 

Louise Percell, Janlen Ong, Peter Welters and The Mighty Caesar embody and sustain cryptic characters, completely oblivious to the audience milling around them. Like Jane Goodall watching the chimps, the punters observe and note take on a provided questionnaire.

Each character – from off-the-grid bearded nomad to skinny, tripping raver – enters their own trance, fixated for long periods of time on single intentions, like chipping ice or manically applying red lipstick. The physical performances are extended internal states, each one trying to survive and navigate environments that the observers are not privy to. 

Audience morale is kept up with copious sweet, rich treats doled out through the hour. Eating everything is a quick road to diabetes, but the variety is fun and delicious nonetheless.

Liminal Treats' time-travelling premise is messy and fruitful and left of centre. While it doesn’t completely hold together from beginning to end, in the best spirit of Fringe, it commits the whole hog to presenting something out of the box.