GG review | Conjah + PSEUDO | Arts House

"GG" is gaming shorthand for "Good Game", usually said at the end of a match. In GG, the term becomes the starting point for a performance about control and choice. Using street dance, motion capture, digital avatars and gaming technology, this collaboration between collectives CONJAH and PSEUDO Studio ask who gets to decide what happens, who is being controlled and what it feels like to have no control at all. Rather than telling a conventional story, GG plays out this exploration through movement, technology and the relationship between the dancers and the digital world around them.

Unfortunately, these ideas never quite come together, instead feeling like a series of disconnected scenes. One involves watching a hand discovering numerous items, including a gaming controller, inside a puppet-theatre-like structure, creating the impression of a video game being operated from within the stage. It’s fascinating to watch, and this has to be one of the most expressive hands I’ve seen, moving, reacting and communicating with remarkable precision. There’s a real sense of curiosity as the hand interacts with the objects around it, but it doesn’t seem to lead anywhere.

And that’s the problem with much of what we see in GG. There are individual highlights to admire, from the incredible dancing to the inventive ways the performers - Jahra Wasasala, Ooshcon, Henry Lai-Pyne, Harrison Hall, Byrin Mita, and Sam Mcgilp - represent movement and the experience of being an avatar. The mix of street dance, digital imagery and theatrical manipulation produces striking moments, with the sound, music, set and lighting helping to build the show’s digital world. There’s clearly a lot of imagination and technical skill present, but these instances feel like they exist on their own, rather than building towards something larger. GG has some interesting concepts and sequences, but it struggles to bring them together into a cohesive whole, making its overall message difficult to grasp.

The finale asks the audience to come onto the stage and surround the dancers, like we’re witnessing a rap battle. As music plays, two human avatars fight a monster, represented by two digital figures and a creature straight out of a video game, being projected onto the wall. The sound and music give the sequence plenty of energy, while the live performers along with their digital avatars create a chaotic, playful spectacle. We’re then asked to help defeat the final boss by pumping our fists in the air. It’s energetic and visually fun, but it left me wondering what, exactly, we had defeated. And what were we supposed to take from it? The audience participation is separate from the ideas explored earlier in the work, becoming an action for the sake of participation instead of a meaningful conclusion to what we’ve just watched.

There is a lot to appreciate in GG, particularly in the talented ensemble and the ambitious combination of street dance, gaming technology and digital design. When the different elements click, the result can be genuinely exciting. But too often, the production gives us an impressive moment without giving us a clear reason for it, leaving the broader ideas about control, choice and agency frustratingly out of reach.

SHOW DETAILS

Venue: Arts House, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne
Season: until 30 August | Sat 2pm and 7:30pm, Sun 5pm
Duration: 55 minutes
Tickets: $40 Full | $25 Conc
Bookings: Arts House

Image credit: Gregory Lorenzutti