Robert the Octopus review | Misdumma Festival | Brunswick Mechanics Institute

In Robert the Octopus, Sadie has a crush on a co-worker but thanks to the modern world, their interactions are solely online and via Zoom meetings. In an attempt to gain her co-worker’s attention, Sadie buys a pet octopus named Robert. Eventually, it's enough to lure Georgia over to visit and from there, things begin to get ridiculously complicated as Sadie seeks advice from Robert on what to do next.

Queer emerging writer Alex Duncan has previously shown promise for highlighting the absurdities within the mundane with his work Rakali, but this outing could benefit from further development. What in theory could have been a fascinating narrative, in practice is a script that is light on substance and plot progression. The exchanges between characters are rudimentary and missing a spark, and while there are hints at humour, it rarely builds tension or generates laughs. At one point, it looks like the play is going to go somewhere regarding power and control and who has it, but that concept wraps up shortly after it is introduced.