Sluts With Consoles @ Underbelly Cowgate
Emerging company Dogmouth Theatre leans on nostalgia in their show about gamer girls
In Sluts With Consoles, Dogmouth Theatre unpacks their (and others') personal histories as female video game players (or gamer girls, as you may know them). Structurally, the show is a series of monologues punctuated by short scenes. Each monologue details an experience of growing up amidst gaming culture, from memories of the Nintendo Wii to Gamergate. In the audience, we chuckle along as we are guided through references to our favourite video games, memes and cultural moments. We shudder at the shockingly cruel, violent threats levied at female gamers in multiplayer online role playing games (using the full government name for clarity), on the internet, and in real life.
In their many monologues, Players 1 and 2 (Mia Harvey and Alice Flynn) point to problems. Social isolation? We remember that. Fetishisation? That's real. Rape and death threats? Very real. Internalised misogyny? Also yes. Interspersed with nods to nostalgia, the show turns into a bit of a List of Things. Where the meat of the writing is focused on pointing out That Thing You Like, the script misses the opportunity to bring a sense of personal or artistic perspective to these widely shared experiences.
Sluts With Consoles comes off as a handful of important but underdeveloped ideas. In striving to be the pinnacle of interactive, relevant and punk fringe theatre, the show falls just short of each of those things. Nevertheless, there's plenty there to appreciate. Harvey and Flynn, rocking their same-but-different boilersuits by a well-known queer indie fashion brand, shine in their interactions with the audience. They're funniest in the ad libs; Harvey's sense of physical comedy is particularly compelling. The duo's self-awareness does speak to the edgy pre-teen lurking somewhere in me.
Paired with charming design (including some very fun projections and animations), Players 1 and 2 share a few compelling moments. In the exchanges where the performers are actually playing, rather than doing capital-T Theatre, there is a glimmer of true inventiveness.
Sluts With Consoles, Underbelly Cowgate (Delhi Belly), until 10 Aug, 11.25pm, £13-14