iDENTiTY

While most sketch shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe play up to their comic roots, Anomaly Theatre Company are adding a touch of the macabre with their dystopian show iDENTiTY. From a salesman using search histories as blackmail to a laboratory for foetus production, these sketches present our world as we know it, but with grim exaggeration that feels as much like a warning as entertainment. This is comedy that is not afraid to ask its audiences uncomfortable questions.

Makes for a memorable performance that will leave you wondering where we’ve gone wrong in the internet age.

Despite some clunky scene changes, transitions between sketches generally seem smooth and slick. We are presented with a dazzling array of personas and all of them are performed with vivacity and energy.

This show takes audiences on many bizarre twists and turns with its diverse range of material. The dystopian future works well as a common thread between the scenes, but one sketch about a man accidentally being mistaken for a bank robber seems out of joint with the theme. Humour and eeriness are balanced carefully to provide a range of audience reactions. The laughs they draw are not always those of amusement, but often of disbelief and shock. Only the show’s final sketch about online personas not matching up to reality seemed to fall flat. This may have been due to its suddenly serious nature in comparison to previous sketches or the somewhat obvious subject matter. Whatever the reason, it was disappointing for such a strong performance to end so limply.

Overall, iDENTiTY makes for a memorable performance that will leave you wondering where we’ve gone wrong in the internet age. This is clever, interesting and unexpected comedy that both entertains and appalls.