Meegan Sweet, creator and star of The Shiniest Piece of Trailer Trash. Photo supplied.
By Liz Nicholls,
“Aww, this is the life! I get to be here, for free!” declares the resourceful, scrappy character we meet in The Shiniest Piece of Trailer Trash.
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In Meegan Sweet’s imaginative solo show, the staff choice at the 2024 Fringe, that character is a raccoon, wary but chipper, making a life in “the most decrepit trailer park — a world of garbage, left-overs, discards. The raccoon’s-eye view of things transmutes trash into treasure. But is that enough for happiness? Fulfilment?
It’s a fundamental existential question. For our new raccoon friend the trashed half-empty Hungry Man containers are a find, but also a symbol. They aspire to be human, a being driven by appetite that creates the trash, not just consumes it. More poetically, it’s the dream of being “re-incarbonated into a yuman bean.” After all, who can say No to a Hungry Man?
Our aspirational raccoon is looking for a transcendent experience (aren’t we all?). Which explains why they’re drawn to interact with the audience: “I have never seen so many human beans in one place before,” they say, cautiously approaching one of us. “You look nice. Are you nice?” And since existential questions are a veritable dumpster dive (or rabbit hole, to mix our species allusions), the curious raccoon wonders about destiny, identity, and whether we’re locked in, to either. Death: now there’s a question. Which brings them to God — who, what, where? “what is your real name?”.
Sweet’s show touches down on big questions lightly, whimsically rifling through our human “trash.” This is not raccoon Beckett; our protagonist is not waiting for Godot. And it’s not Old Deuteronomy ready to ascend to the Heavyside Layer. But there’s poignancy in the humour, and a witty way of addressing the profound by tossing it up, then undercutting it while it’s still in the air.
Meegan Sweet in The Shiniest Piece of Trailer Trash. Photo supplied.
A black-nosed clown, they’re a free-associator, highly distractible in that clown-ly way. In this odd original of a show directed jointly by Charlie Peters and Autumn Strom. Sweet, a fearless performer and improviser, creates a mischievous, sly character who’s paws-on with the audience. “Share!” they command. And we do. There are outbursts of poetry both lyrical and muscular; there are songs (“the pineapple of human existence”).
Its biggest risk comes at the end, which faces up to the challenges of creating an imaginary world in a way that leans into clarity a bit too much perhaps. I’m of two minds about that ending, and reluctant to tell you more. But getting there with the self-styled “king of garbage” is clever fun, with a soulful edge: this is a smart, funny performance piece, and such a bold opener for the Fringe Theatre season. “Come in come on, follow the trail of stars.”
REVIEW
The Shiniest Piece of Trailer Trash
Theatre: at Edmonton Fringe Theatre
Created by and starring: Meegan Sweet
Directed by: Charlie Peters and Autumn Strom
Where: Studio Theatre, Fringe Arts Barns, 10330 84 Ave.
Running: through Saturday
Tickets: fringetheatre.ca
