STREET THEATRE
Mechronos Perth
Cultural Centre

REVIEW: Jordan Nix

There was a moment in Mechronos when two children bickering in the crowd suddenly stopped with their mouths open, frozen with wonder. Above them, aerial artists are dangling perilously above the Mechronos machine, somersaulting through the air. Their bodies make beautiful silhouettes in the setting sun. Then the machine starts to come to life, spanners clanging, performers chanting in broken-English.

Like an ancient beast awakening, it begins to stir and leaps forward to make its way slowly through the parting crowd at the Cultural Centre. Mechronos is an impressive feat in both scale and imagination. Director Philip Mitchell and the team at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre should be commended on the sheer beauty of this giant, steam-punk machine and its performers, the guardians of time whose purpose is to keep it alive.

Designer Sanjiva Margio has done a remarkable job with the machine which doubles as the performer’s stage. Dressed in clothes out of a Mad Max film, they climb, spin and claw their way around it for the duration of the outdoor two hour performance. The performers, Ruth Battle, Jacob McGrath, Sophie McGrath, Dawn Pascoe, Michael Smith and Rachel Wells, each get a chance to shine and show why they are some of Perth’s best. They dance, on the ground, in the air and through the fire.

At two hours, the free performance allows audience members to come and go and the many safety aspects of the performance are cleverly designed as maintenance and part of the job for these time guardians. Staying for the entire shows means you’ll experience the full repertoire but be prepared to weather the repetitiveness of certain aspects. The performance also ends rather abruptly without a grand finale. Perhaps it would have been suited to a condensed running time and performed twice over two hours, allowing audiences members to come and go while still experiencing the full glory.

Spare Puppets should be congratulated for bringing Fringe to families. It’s a spectacle that will amaze both children and parents.

Mechronos runs January 28, February 2 and 16 at the Perth Cultural Centre and February 22 at the Hawker’s Markets, Murray Street Mall. The performances are free.