In Metis’s previous piece, 3rd Ring Out, east London was underwater as a consequence of climate change and the audience had to decide what to do next. Would altruism win out over self- interest, or local claims over global needs? Yep, we failed to save the world. There’s likely to be a similar sense of helpless failure if you take part in this clever company’s latest theatre game, which looks at the effects of the fashion industry on those living far away, casting the audience as owners of a Chinese clothing factory.
Each table in the theatre represents a single factory, and after an introduction in which we find out a little about the UK’s declining manufacturing industry and the rise of the far east as a major player, each table is given a wad of (fake) money and a chance to make our fortune. Margaret Thatcher’s maxim that people want growth, not equality, rings in our ears. But when hearing about the lives of 21st-century Chinese factory workers, it’s hard not to think of Friedrich Engels’ appalled descriptions of the working classes in mid-19th-century industrial Manchester.
Beautifully facilitated by a cast of four, who act like croupiers, dealing each table a new card with a developing scenario and a binary choice, the show is like a speedily played boardgame. Yes, there’s a lack of nuance in the choices offered, and the breakneck speed at which the scenario unfolds doesn’t really allow for reasoned discussion. It sometimes all feels a little earnest and lacks a sense of drama. But it’s sociable, exhaustingly good fun and it would work particularly well with young people, as it clearly connects actions to consequences, and tots up the real cost of cheap clothes in the high street – both to people and the planet.
• At Young Vic theatre, London, until 6 June. Box office: 020-7922 2923.
