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When life gives you garbage

 
Nicholas Abrams Review by Nicholas Abrams 2 Published: 24 Oct 2025 Fabbricateatro Show Dates: 23 Oct 2025-23 Oct 2025

There’s an intriguing idea buried somewhere in When Life Gives You Garbage - a meditation on clutter, chaos, and the rituals we use to rebuild ourselves. Unfortunately, like the piles of rubbish strewn across the stage, it never quite finds form.

An intriguing idea lost beneath its own clutter

Greek performer Savvina Romanou-Pylli spends much of the show navigating her own domestic debris, speaking in Greek with English and Italian surtitles projected above. The concept - cleaning the house as a metaphor for cleaning the mind - has promise, but the execution feels indulgent and opaque. At one point she eats peanut butter from a banana, and I found myself wondering what it was meant to signify. Perhaps I missed something profound.

There’s room for abstract physical theatre, but audiences still need a thread to follow. Here, that thread gets lost among the clutter. Even the lighting seemed confused - a single LED beam fixed squarely on me throughout the performance, a fitting symbol for misplaced focus.

When Life Gives You Garbage aspires to say something about resilience and self-renewal, but the result feels more like an unfinished workshop than a finished piece. The mess might be the point - but that doesn’t make it compelling to watch.

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The Blurb:

Two little mice lose their home. Through circus arts and shadow puppetry, they embark on a daring adventure in search of a new one — an emotional and delicate journey, rich with poetic imagery.