The Scream is a painting by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.
The Scream is one of the five most famous paintings in the world.
The Scream was painted in 1893
In the background of the painting are two men dressed in black wearing black top hats.
These two men were the then representatives of the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu.
We are the current representatives of The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu.
This is our story.
This is the only description that was given for the ‘Justified and Ancient’ performance with a sneaky hint: “it’s a utopian costume drama, in three acts” and my oh my, it does not do it justice.
Talk about a sensory overload – this performance had an immense amount of every artistic form taken to stage. From dancing to singing to rapping, they had props and costumes, soundtracks and dialogue, special effects and instruments – even, at one point, a human pyramid. The intensity of each act truly showcased the intensity of the events within the original band of ‘The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu’.
This eerie philosophical performance was ingeniously silly whilst also exposing all kinds of truths about world problems. The theatrical part of the show, whilst mainly explaining the original story of ‘The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu’, a notorious British electronic band, also exposed issues of hierarchical society, the media, the music industry and capitalism.
I found that their 2nd person narration of their story was a creepy but clever approach to address society and its important topics by making the audience feel (or at least I did) like a part of their story. Their masterfully creepy performance made sure that everyone constantly asks themselves “What the fuck is going on!”
After a riveting theatrical display of the events of ‘The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu’, the band played and sung songs whilst inviting the audience to dance with them, concluding the night with a celebratory boogie which was well-fitting. The performance was altogether creepy, yet captivating, embedded with imagery of the original band with a modern and dramatic twist to it.
The performers were Finn Allenby, Arden Dickerson, Blake Hahn, Matthew O’Malley, Noah Lattanzio, Sydney Madsen, Amy Scammell, Katherine Steele, Kate Walker. The director, Malcolm Whittake. Cris Chavez and Callum Haddow, part of management. Thi Tran on lighting design. Cris Chavez on sound design and set department with Josie Elliott and Malcolm Whittaker. Chase Coussens in the props department. Elena Allenby and Matilda Ellicott in the costume department. Finally, Ethan Millie on images.
Check out the rest of this season’s performances here.