By Barry Daniel
As a quiet, bookish kind I’ve solely taken LSD a couple of dozen occasions, but my current Saturday night time at the Underwood Art Factory Junkyard Theatre Show was much better than another journey I’ve experienced!
Half means along Phuket’s By-Pass Road in the midst of the island, lies the Underwood Art Factory’s psychedelic parallel universe which has clearly been downloaded from interstellar area by inventive mastermind John Underwood and his family, plus sundry local singers, dancers, actors, acrobats, magicians, gymnasts and wizards of theatrical technicality.
Enter ye into this stunning world of mystery and magic, solely those who are prepared to have your minds most resoundingly blown!
As you stroll into the ramshackle Arts Factory area and its welcoming Grind Café, your senses are immediately regaled and overwhelmed by a kaleidoscope of insanely inventive artworks, icons, photographs and components of pure, un-nameable mania.
The array of inventive, and admittedly insane, objects that encompass you in chaotic abandonment appear to fuse junk with found-objects and discarded bric-a-brac into wondrous, Monty Python-esque machines, distinctive artworks, and objects so unusual that it’s a problem to one’s senses to even comprehend what they might possibly be.
Presiding over all this explosive creativity is larger-than-life Aussie John Underwood and his son Zac, who will most likely greet you by the funky bar as you arrive into this parallel universe, then information you into the inside sanctum of the Junkyard Theatre itself throughout the bowels of their Art Factory.
The theatre itself is a cavern of mystery and imagination for sure, but remains well ventilated and socially distanced as has turn out to be a necessity in our chastened instances. It’s here that the Junkyard ensemble work their creative magic when you are served with a deliciously decadent three-course Thai-fusion supper, to not mention playfully-crafted drinks, which you bravely try to devour between the uncontrollable gasps and the gales of helpless laughter which the present tends to unleash… no imply feat!
The show runs the creative gauntlet from a beautifully-sung ballad about love and life in Phuket from the prow of the Good Ship Thaitanic as the gorgeous chanteuse is groped by a retinue of ardent potential lovers of various sexual proclivities.
Then onward to unimaginable athletic and gymnastic feats by Phuket’s very own Muay Thai Fighting B-Boys, street entertainers who’re every bit as manic and breath-taking of their routines as something you’ll ever see within the globally famous Circle du Soleil.
Then there’s a visit to a bondage dungeon replete with leather-clad Dominatrix with whips; there’s traditional Siamese shadow puppetry of a Thai massage which matches hilariously mistaken and turns into erotically out of control; there’s a full strip tease at an airport safety scanner which traps the gawking safety guard in an erotic hypnosis, whereas drug sellers and gunmen stroll by way of his checkpoint un-noticed; there’s even a phalanx of madly-dancing Corona viruses and naughty nurses to enthral you!
It’s all a loopy psychedelic journey of out-of-control imaginative inventiveness with out the necessity of medication any stronger than a cool glass of Sauvignon Blanc with your delicious supper!
The present is actually a dynamic and ever-changing collaboration from an incredible array of native skills geared toward showcasing and satirising the local Thai, touristic and ex-pat experiences of life on this loopy island known as Phuket.
Sensational costumes, fabulous lighting, visual gags, dynamic athleticism, sexy choreography and special effects and even an audience dance get together that explodes spontaneously on the finish of the show…. actually that is an experience like no different and should most definitely not be missed.
The only method to actually savour this uniquely creative weekly occasion is to go alongside to the Underwood Art Factory on a Saturday night and expertise it for yourself. Certainly, mere words can in no way do justice to the wondrous experience that awaits you, so I shall abandon my attempt to do so right now.
The Junkyard Show: Every Saturday Night. Verify for bookings..g