Half-naked cavemen bathing in radioactive goop, techno wizards worshipping an unheard beat and a witchdoctor draped in power cords are all characters you will ‘scientifically monitor’ on your journey to the future in Scratch Arts new show Liminal Treats at Melbourne Fringe Festival.
The group behind this show, Scratch Arts, is a Naarm (Melbourne) based contemporary queer production house that has been delighting audiences through theatre and events such as their monthly performance art club night, Blankë Pop. My plus one and I entered an eerily quiet Rose Street Markets in the evening as the sun was setting, we were here to pamper our senses with a very unusual show. Liminal Treats is a performance art piece where the audience becomes a time-travelling tourist to explore an open rift in time & space to view creatures from thousands of years into the future.
Stepping into the liminal rift, we were treated with a cocktail (only $10, try the spicy ginger rum one) in a fun sciency-styled mug, and some delightful fresh fruit, vegan baked goods and other gooey pleasures to snack on as ‘protection’ against these apocalyptic creatures we were observing.
Our guide to the future viewing used his rift machine to show us these creatures, with strict instructions (and clipboards!) to record our ‘science’ as we went. One of our favourite questions on our observation forms was to draw how the creatures made us feel.
While there wasn’t necessarily a plot or narrative of the piece to drive our experience, we did enjoy the chaos of journeying into the future and the commitment to the characters each performer put in – particularly the half-naked rugged traveller who took a shower under a radioactive green-glowing stream.
Liminal Treats is like a light food and wine pairing only with a series of delicious snacks paired with experimental and unusual performance art pieces. Melbourne Fringe was the perfect festival to explore this unusual new piece of work. If you’re like us and enjoy pushing our boundaries of art and performance, you should catch this surreal show before it ends.
– The Plus Ones
