All That Is Wrong @ Traverse

All That is Wrong is bold, honest and universally relatable. Dramatising the feelings of frustration which arise when one becomes aware of the world’s ills and yet feels powerless to remedy them, this hybrid performance art/theatre piece is refreshingly raw and potent.

Completing a trilogy of works on youth in transition Koba Ryckewart once again stars in a production that builds slowly, beginning with the letter ‘I’ drawn in the centre of the floor before constructing a sprawling mind-map that moves from the personal to the political and shows how the two are fundamentally symbiotic. For some, the minimalist action and set design will not provide enough. After all, for large parts of this show we literally watch someone write on the floor in chalk, with no other accompaniment.

However, if one is willing to embrace and invest in the simple truths being shared then the slow bubbling of interconnected themes will draw you in and remind you of the vitality of well executed art. I hasten to add that there is more to witness than I have already suggested. Koba is joined on stage by a kind of assistant in Zach Hatch, who helps to facilitate and document the process by means of old and new technology. As the show comes closer to its dramatic climax the process of expanding the text continues but is augmented and emphasized by Zach’s contributions.

Most will not learn anything new, in the political or societal sense, from All That Is Wrong. We know how pervasive corporations are in every aspect of our lives. We know the links between religious fundamentalism, power and money. However, most will recognise this snapshot of a time in their lives when they had an awakening to their own futility in battling these forces. To see the moment presented so viscerally perhaps reminds us why we once were so angered by it and why we still should be.