SLUGS review | Creepy Boys | Melbourne Fringe Festival | Meat Market

Two giant slugs wriggle onto the stage in sleeping bags with holes cut out for their heads and arms. It is an entrance that immediately tells us SLUGS is not going to take the conventional route. The Creepy Boys (Sam Kruger and S.E. Grummett) have created a show that is determined to avoid having a point. They sing, dance, strip, play with puppets, present live projections, and drag the audience into their increasingly bizarre world, all while insisting that none of it is supposed to mean anything. The more they try to keep things light, however, the more meaning seems to creep in.

That tension is where SLUGS gets much of its comedy. The pair are constantly aware that almost anything can be interpreted as a statement, especially when it comes to their bodies. A seemingly harmless song acquires a political reading, while an unexpected reference to guns or gender sends the show careening in another direction. Their response is to not address the issue at all, but instead throw something else at us. This gives the production an exciting and unpredictable rhythm. Just when you think you have worked out where a scene is heading, it can veer into puppetry, animation, music or some outrageous physical gag.

The puppetry is particularly enjoyable. Paper figures and miniature sets are manipulated live to create some wonderfully odd images, including an absurd sequence involving a cow and tractor being lifted into the sky. A paper version of Joni Mitchell also makes an appearance, because why not! The handmade quality of these creations adds to the charm, giving SLUGS an intentionally rough-around-the-edges visual style that suits its sense of play.

There is something impressive about the sheer amount the Creepy Boys manage to fit into the performance. They move between different forms with remarkable speed, often barely finishing one idea before launching into another. The couple commit so completely to the absurdity that the constant movement becomes part of the show's appeal.

Underneath the silliness, there is a sharper observation about how difficult it is to exist without being scrutinised. Bodies mean something. Words mean something. Identity means something. Even the decision to avoid saying anything can become a statement in itself.

SLUGS is strange, messy and highly inventive, with the ridiculous becoming a way of poking at serious ideas. And if it occasionally feels like it is about absolutely everything except nothing, that seems to be precisely the point.

Read our interview with the Creepy Boys here. 

SHOW DETAILS

Venue: Meat Market, 36-54 Courtney St, North Melbourne

Season: until 17 October | Wed - Sat 9.15pm
Duration: 60 minutes

Tickets: $35 Full | $28 Conc
 | $26.25 Hump Day Wednesday
Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival