• Advertise
  • Request Review
  • Write for Us
  • Privacy
  • Login

Theatre Bubble

The UK Theatre Network

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Opinions
  • Interviews
  • Guides
  • Tickets

Iron M.A.M. – Currently Touring

November 3, 2015 by Lake Gregory Leave a Comment

Review of: Iron M.A.M.
Bring Your Own Collective:
Owl Young
Price:
Various

Reviewed by: Gregory Lake
Rating:
3
On November 3, 2015
Last modified:November 17, 2015

Summary:

A well-constructed, insightful interactive show with a smart interplay between its medium and its message. Clearly the beginning of a great career - catch it on tour.

More Details

“It’s just a button and anyone can push a button”, Owl Young tells the audience near the close of his drone-themed solo show IRON M.A.M. (or ‘Military Aged Male’). It is apt, then, that much of this charmingly high and low-tech production is operated at the touch of a button, via a PS4 controller that Young keeps ready in an armpit holster. Whilst this metaphor is sustained throughout, with audience members invited to join Young onstage in a game using the controllers as weapons, Young seems to gesture away from metaphor and towards the literal convergence between a remote-controlled gameshow, and a remotely-controlled death. In this show, the click of a spacebar could kill, or merely change the powerpoint slide.

Iron MAM

 

Pitching his show as being “caught between a TED Talk and a Coming-Of-Age Thriller”, Young employs a deceptively low-energy delivery to gently encourage his audience to join him onstage for a series of seemingly simple games and interactions within which there are flashes of something more subversive. For example, asking one audience member to face the wall whilst their neighbour throws paper airplanes at them, he explains by stating “If this were the real thing, he wouldn’t see it coming”.

In other instances, his target is less clear. One ‘game’ involved another member of the audience first shooting well known celebrity and political targets – prompting some easy laughs at certain public figures given a prompt execution – before competing with Young himself to take shots at unidentified civilian targets, some wielding weapons or wearing balaclavas, others simply at prayer. At first, it was unclear what Young was attempting to communicate beyond the difficulty of identifying ‘genuine’ threats, making the exercise feel cheap and the volunteer’s choices arbitrary – that is, however, until the volunteer to their horror realised a millisecond too late that they had mistakenly shot a member of Pussy Riot.

This is what characterises IRON M.A.M. – a deceptive and surface moral simplicity that is subverted at the moment the audience takes it for granted. It shows creative courage to be willing to engage with frustration as a viable audience-response, and to sit back and allow the audience to make themselves the targets. Early on, Young states “let’s not be coy – drones kill terrorists”, in a tantalising gesture towards a moral relativism that is unfortunately unexplored elsewhere. It is also a show containing highly personal content, weaved into the central themes in a way that shouldn’t be spoilt, but which operates like an emotional kick to the gut. The result is a well-constructed, insightful show with a smart interplay between its medium and its message. IRON M.A.M. feels like the brink of something incredibly powerful – see it if you can. I look forward to seeing what the Bring Your Own Collective brings us next.

Iron M.A.M. is on tour from the 19th of November until the 26th of March. Details of venues and dates can be found on the company’s website: http://www.byotc.co.uk/tourdates/

Written and performed by Owl Young
Produced by Jordan Guilfoy-Richards

Illustrations by Daisy Harding

Watch the trailer here.

Author: Gregory Lake

Filed Under: Review Tagged With: Bring Your Own Collective, Camden People's Theatre, Iron M.A.M, Owl Young, Starting Blocks

Join the discussion Cancel reply

INTERVIEW / Paul O’Donnell talks about his new show Dia-Beat-Es

This February, performer Paul O’Donnell is premiering his new autobiographical show Dia-Beat-Es. Bringing to the stage his own personal experiences [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Plain Heroines talks SCRATCHES at VAULT Festival 2023

We spoke to director Gabrielle Bird from Plain Heroines about taking part in VAULT Festival 2023 with their show SCRATCHES   Tell us [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Anthony Clark on SHE

Anthony Clark is the writer of SHE, a new show interweaving the stories of 14 different women in their twenties, [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Thick ‘n’ Fast talks General Secretary at VAULT Festival

We spoke to co-writers and performers Cassie Symes and Georgina Thomas about taking part in VAULT Festival 2023 with their [Read More]

NEWS / Too Much World at Once tour announced

Set against a backdrop of the climate crisis, the debut from Papatango shortlisted writer Billie Collins is a lyrical coming [Read More]

Top Posts & Pages

  • Does Small to Mid Scale Theatre Touring Actually Work?
  • Paul O’Donnell talks about his new show Dia-Beat-Es
  • The Design Process of David Farley
  • Writing the Perfect Press Release
  • Alice Christina-Corrigan talks Past Life
  • 10 Tips to Help You Prepare for Your Reality TV Auditions
  • Amit Lahav - Artistic Director of Gecko Theatre
  • Birthday Suit at the Old Red Lion Theatre
  • Is this the real location of Ambridge?
  • Joseph Grimaldi Clown Memorial Service
  • Lake Gregory
    Contributor

  • November 3rd, 2015
  • comment iconNo Comments
  • Facebook48TweetLinkedInEmail

    Newsletter

    Enjoyed what you've read? Get even more great content directly to your inbox - Completely Free

    About Theatre Bubble

    Theatre Bubble is the news, review and blogging site created by Blue Pie Media and run by a dedicated team of outstanding editors and writers: we're always looking for new contributors - to find out more click here.

    Contact Us

    News: news@theatrebubble.com
    Reviews: reviews@theatrebubble.com
    Website: webmaster@theatrebubble.com

    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2023 · Blue Pie Media

     

    Loading Comments...
     

      Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

      Email sent!