Co-created by Ruff as Gutz’ Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin and Daniel Nodder, recently returned from a clowning course at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in France, Crush the Bug is their inspired riff on Franz Kafka’s 1915 novella, The Metamorphosis.

“Someone wakes up. It is a working man. They are a bug!” their show blurb says. “Sounds familiar, doesn’t it…” When they ask this second night audience who has read it, however, no-one has. But I did see the Steven Berkoff stage adaptation at BATS in 2008.*

The BATS Dome space features a table draped with while lab coats. Some pockets are stuffed with … stuff. On arrival each audience member has been given a tube of rolled up newspaper, in case we need to crush a bug. Cue a fun chase through the audience. Wacky.

Sean and Daniel also make a point of learning every person’s name. They treat us to dance moves too. And silence. Stillness. Nice. We are thoroughly warmed up and tuned in.

Ben Kelly’s compositions and sound design tell us when the ‘show’ proper is ‘on’. Wrapped in a white coat, Daniel sleeps then wakes, excited to be facing another day at the factory. (This job aligns more with Berkoff’s Marxist take on the tale. Kafka’s Gregor is a disaffected travelling salesman and cloth merchant, “plagued with … the always changing, never enduring human exchanges that don’t ever become intimate”. He also has a despotic boss but can’t quit because he is the sole breadwinner for the family: his parents and sister.)

Weird things happen that fascinate Daniel and make him realise he has transformed. But there’s no self-loathing here. And rather than feeling disgusted or fearful and wanting the shut him away, Sean embraces the role of father figure.

Appropriate activities ensue, for which we provide sound effects. When something breaks, the spectre of parental discipline arises. Daniel questions his identity and discovers he’s a Bug. The concept of ‘work’ puzzles him. His Dad explains: “Work is something adults do to survive. The world does not take kindly to those who do not work.”

Yes, there is method in this clowning scenario. It comes to the crunch – or do I mean crush? – when Dad takes his Bug boy to work and reveals his occupation. Horror! Time for reflection all round.

The rest plays out in a blend of classic clowning tropes and real-life moral dilemmas to be confronted. The only ‘long loaf’ allowed may be described as The Battle of the Baguettes’. Is forgiveness possible? Our role as those who sit in judgment is put to the test. Another metamorphosis occurs.

Crush the Bug may look like casual clowning, just fooling around, but it surreptitiously makes us think and feel. It’s in malleable mode for this season and may return in Fringe 2026.

*See also adaptation by Kerry Frampton, Nelson Fringe 2023.

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