Review: World Factory
World Factory by Metis brilliantly tells the story of our clothing. From factory to high street, meet the people involved in making the items that you wear and discover the story of the garments that are hanging in your wardrobe.
World Factory offers a unique theatre experience, with a powerful hidden message. The audience become the performance, but not in a ‘stand up and speak in front of everyone’ kind of way. Instead the theatregoers are sat in groups of four around tables that form part of the set, with a catwalk running through the middle where the action takes place.
Here you become part of the action, you become the owners of your own Chinese factory and the choices you make will affect, not only the garments you produce, but also the welfare of your workers. Working in your groups of four, your receive your start up capital and a portfolio of your workforce, then you play the game…
World Factory has been fantastically put together by Metis and, the whole piece works amazingly well. The actors become dealers passing scenarios to the players (the audience members). The whole 90 minutes works very much like the adventure books of the 1980s where you choose outcome A or B.
Nobody knows exactly where the story will lead until the end of the performance, however one thing is for sure, and it’s that you will want to return, and ‘play’ again!
A thoroughly enjoyable evening of entertainment with a powerful message, it’s just a shame that World Factory is only on for one week, as it could get quite addictive with many members of the audience returning to run their clothing factory for a second time.
World Factory will be at the New Wolsey until Thursday 30th April. To book tickets contact the Box Office on 01473 295900 or visit www.wolseytheatre.co.uk
• Wendy Cook, Ipswich24 Magazine