In The Package It Came In, U.K. trio The Awkwards takes the audience on an interactive comic romp through the lighter side of recycling. Right off the top the concept is refreshing: it’s not a play but an information session.
As the story goes, fictional British supermarket chain United is slated to open stores in Canada, so to reassure its new consumers United has organized a public open house to explain how the chain will act to reduce packaging waste. The panel of ‘speakers’ includes United spokeswoman Annie Upsom,
lugubrious British talk-show host Jeremy Hoeg and hopelessly dishevelled environment professor David Norwood.
All three are engaging, though Upsom is particularly outstanding. Together, the trio uses creates an endearingly frisky comedy that pokes gentle fun at corporations, academics and environmentalists alike. Most impressively, the performance manages to promote environmentalism without getting preachy.
Rating: B+
Reviewer: MM, Uptown Magazine
The bell clangs, and they’re off. In one corner is perky Annie Upsom, team leader of a corporate responsibility group for United Foods supermarkets, tasked with promoting the grocery giant as the leader in environmentally friendly programs and policies.
In the other corner, sweating and stammering in his tweed jacket, is Dr. David Norwood, professor and author of eight awkwardly-titled books on saving the Earth from our prolific rubbish. In this business seminar-turned-play, Norwood (Matthew Bellwood) stands at the podium to quote from his uninspirational prose.
His planet-salvaging suggestions include the benefits of biodegradable coffins and tossing aside condoms – they take too long to break down in the landfill.
Meanwhile, peppy Upsom (Harriet Plewis), aided by metrosexual TV star Jeremy Hoag (Tom Adams), stages gimmicks like a “waste management, weight management” workout – an exercise/recycling routine, culminating in a hilarious plastic bottle-squishing knee squat and a trash-crushing dance inside an orange garbage bag.
Upsom is a beautiful illustration of the allure of the polished marketing machine and its hypnotic effect on a society coaxed to believe happiness comes from buying more stuff.
Just as mediator Hoag raises Upsom’s arm in victory, Norwood emerges from his gape-mouthed stupor to deliver a fatal blow. Then, the want-not-waste-not battle takes a turn for the bizarre. The philosophical disconnect over waste management comes to blows. In a rage, Norwood unwraps the true “package it came in.” It all culminates in an experience ridiculous enough to be funny, but not too silly.
Although the pregnant pauses and awkward silences in this play compound its hilarity, it would benefit from a punchier pace, as some parts seem to lag a tad. Nevertheless, this British comedy is a Fringe must-see. It’s an audience-interactive, sexual innuendo-laced, one-of-a-kind experience.
On the 14th of August, as the festival closed, in an online poll on the forums of the Saskatoon Fringe website, the voting for ‘Best Show of the Fringe at Venue One’ placed ‘The Package It Came In’ in first position of the nine shows at that venue, with 42% of the votes, with the show which was voted second receiving 28%.
Rating * * * *
The Saskatoon Star Phoenix
Another fine offering from the British invasion. In this cumbersomely monikered satire, a London-based troupe called The Awkwards skewer both evil corporations that pay lip service to environmental concerns, and nerdy do-gooders trying to save the world.
The comedy is about the fictitious United Markets, poised to set up new stores in Canada. The company’s smarmy public relations rep is played with subtle verisimilitude by Harriet Plewis. She joins a vacuous TV personality (Tom Adams) and an uber-unhip academic
(Matthew Bellwood) who believes birth control devices should be abolished because they are not biodegradable.
While each side is lampooned, the sympathies of the show’s creators lie with the ecology professor, who becomes increasingly enraged as the corporate whores spout more and more babble.
This is sharp, sophisticated satire well worth seeking out.
Rating: 4 stars
The Victoria Times-Colonist