How To Art ★★★

The contemporary art world is ripe for criticism. In the world of commodified artistic output, where art is bought and sold for extortionate, inflated prices, what better way to spoof modern art practices than by taping a ripe banana against a wall?

Thus, the artwork titled “Comedian” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was created. It’s just that: a banana taped to the wall – displayed and now donated to the Guggenheim museum, Cattelan’s piece was a statement on the capitalised art market. In How to Art, New Zealand’s Ratbag Theatre has given life to the bananas, while serving up their own parody.

The production is structured as a slapstick clown show. The two banana-clowns are played by Katie Burson and Georgie Llewellyn in spirited performances that blend physical expression with absurdity. The two bananas, both named Kevin, gain sentience in a Berlin art gallery and are to be auctioned off by a museum curator (a show-stealing turn by Bronwyn Ensor). The Kevins are desperate to escape their certain eternal fate and must escape the gallery, frequently encountering other artworks and using the audience for help.

The production is structured as a slapstick clown show. The two banana-clowns are played by Katie Burson and Georgie Llewellyn in spirited performances that blend physical expression with absurdity. The two bananas, both named Kevin, gain sentience in a Berlin art gallery and are to be auctioned off by a museum curator (a show-stealing turn by Bronwyn Ensor). The Kevins are desperate to escape their certain eternal fate and must escape the gallery, frequently encountering other artworks and using the audience for help.

Burson and Llewellyn excel in their performances as the bananas – their on-stage chemistry is utilised perfectly as they begin feeling sexually desirable towards one another, complicating matters further as they embark on their escape plan. Both performers are completely in sync -it’s a pairing that works in their favour, especially contrasting Ensor’s ridiculous mannerisms.

Satirically, the show successfully sends up the way art exchanges hands. In one clever moment of audience interaction, “SOLD!” stickers are handed out to people sitting in the first row. This is a simple, yet effective way of involving the audience as art pieces themselves. Ensor struts on stage, examining the audience as modern art as if selecting what to deliver to potential buyers. There’s even a hilarious real-time art auction.

The show falters in its pacing. Much of the action takes place in the Berlin art gallery, and while the production’s attempts to spoof the Berlin art scene are humorous, the choice of setting makes the show a little restrictive, especially for its hour-length. Rob Bryne’s set is indeed beautifully ornate, but a change of scenery could’ve given life to the bananas outside the gallery. With much of the same type of physical comedy being repeated, the show can feel like a recurring set of gags with a similar punchline.

This leads the show to having a slightly overripe quality – where its story begins to drag as the limits of its own structure begin to wear thin, especially after all the impressive set pieces are over and done with. However, Burson and Llewellyn maintain such an eye-catching presence that it’s impossible not to be charmed by the quality of their relationship on stage. With a little bit of restructuring and trimming, the production could be a tightly executed winner.