Created and Performed by Tom Bailey

Review by Moyra Jones

Summerhall – Techcube 0

Wild Thing is the sequel to Mechanical’s 2019 hit Vigil, continuing their exploration of urgent environmental themes.

As the audience enters, Tom Bailey is already moving across the space as a spiny dwarf mantis. This preset bleeds into the show as Bailey continually transforms into the animals whose names are projected onto the back wall. These physical transformations are funny and delivered with thoughtfulness and character.

One particularly charming moment sees Bailey crawling through the audience, where a young boy offers a piece of gum to the white-footed sportive lemur. It’s a gesture you’d probably never see in the wild, but it feels disarmingly sweet. Bailey’s gentle stage presence and charismatic physicality create an immediate rapport with the audience, which includes viewers of all ages.

As the sequence progresses, the animal transformations become increasingly chaotic, almost overwhelming in their number and pace. The sound builds in intensity, matching Bailey’s frenetic energy – but the lighting design doesn’t quite keep up. The lack of visual escalation in the lighting slightly undercuts what should be a more climactic moment.

The show is structured in three clearly distinct parts. The second section features Bailey in a VR headset, acting out a day in the life of a Bali tiger. The projections, reminiscent of The Matrix, smartly remain in the background. Instead, the focus is drawn to Bailey’s intensely physical performance. A David Attenborough-style voiceover narrates the “game,” accompanied by visceral sound effects. As the sequence glitches and breaks down, Bailey suddenly releases a barrage of skulls and bones across the stage. It’s a powerful transition – from virtual simulation to the tactile reality of extinction.

Wearing the biggest skull on his head, and a cloth with the names of 48,000 endangered and extinct species Bailey becomes a kind of king of death – a haunting, beautiful, and damning stage image.

This sets the tone for the final section, where Bailey embodies his chosen spirit animal: the Penitent Muscle, a rare and endangered creature. Here, Bailey steps out of character to share his personal story – walking from Scotland to Norway, carrying his sheet of endangered species. He asks: what would it mean to be the last of your kind? His accompanying photographs, showing the sheet installed in natural landscapes, are beautiful and moving.

The show ends not with despair, but with a message of cautious hope. Is this the end, or a new beginning?

Wild Thing is a very silly show with a serious message. At times, it feels like three distinct performances in one – but despite the tonal shifts, it successfully delights audiences of all ages while offering moments of genuine reflection. A unique and thought-provoking piece well worth experiencing at this year’s Fringe.

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