CREEKSHOW at Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★½
★★★★½ CREEKSHOW | ZOO Southside | Aug 11-14, 16-27 | Midday
A love letter to To Do List’s home ‘town’, and an enthralling multimedia exploration of the threat of urban regeneration.
Writer/performer Jenny Witzel captivates with this ode to the wonders of Deptford, and particularly the muddy creek which runs through it. Gentle but deceptively rousing, CREEKSHOW is the story of an area fighting regeneration and gentrification, and defending its identity against the onslaught of capitalism.
Even for Deptford natives, CREEKSHOW is an eye-opening hour, focusing as it does on archeological finds in the layers of mud atop which Witzel lived for two years in a houseboat. These found items – a shoe, a toy car, a VHS – each hold a story, or a whole host of potential stories. Witzel expertly blends spoken word with impressively high-quality digital media to excavate the once-lost narratives, before turning an eye to future threats: the housing and cost of living crises felt as much in Deptford as anywhere else.
In Witzel’s assured company, an hour at the Fringe passes in the blink of an eye – but don’t be surprised if you leave energised and ready to protest any multibillionaire housing developer who crosses your path. CREEKSHOW is an powerful call-to-action, and a beautiful piece of theatre too.
I am Joint Editor at To Do List. I like: nice pubs, film marathons, not doing real marathons, bad comedy, plays/musicals with shorter second halves, and the Oxford comma.
