★★★
Solo writer and performer Faye Yan undergoes an evaluative assessment to procure a worker’s visa to Mars. Alongside this assessment, the show delves into the memories and feelings this process evokes in the protagonist.
Yan’s obvious satire of Elon Musk’s expansionist fantasies, and the modern capitalist landscape more generally, was funny and accurate. Empty slogans about valuing “unique perspectives” and “diverse voices” are quickly undermined by the discrimination her character faces on the grounds of her ethnicity and neurotype. The invasiveness and impersonality of the process will be familiar to anyone who has had to engage with such systems, as will the increasingly absurd questions asked: “Do you seek to engage in espionage?” was a personal favourite.
The shift to backstory is a welcome change of pace after the extended initial sequence of question and answer. A more visually and verbally poetic exploration of Yan’s childhood difficulties with the stringent expectations of her Shanghai education provides depth to the character’s experience of the assessment. The brief moments of non-naturalistic dance that punctuate these scenes are particularly enjoyable, displaying Yan’s evident skill in this area.
The initial structural and thematic coherence between the assessment and backstory weakens substantially with the exploration of Yan’s years at university later in the show. The disclosing of her troubled experiences of burn out, anxiety, masking, and disordered eating felt disconnected from the interplanetary satire with which the show began. The short game of heavy-handedly metaphorical beer-bong was particularly jarring, requiring audience interaction after 30 minutes of a firmly erected fourth wall. By the show’s end its messaging and emphasis had become unfocused, split between the increasingly distinct personal and satirical elements. However, both were presented with a commendable verve, in a sharp, visually dynamic, and enjoyable performance.
Is There Work on Mars? is on at Playground 1 at ZOO Playground until August 24th
