Running Wet Through a Tunnel is one to remember and certainly very ‘Fringe’, which is fitting as it had a hit season this Fringe (and netted itself a nomination for Most Promising Emerging Artist in this year’s awards).

It’s 8pm, on a Thursday, and I’m barrelling down a fabric vagina which hangs, sort of eldritchian, across the doors in BATS’ Stage space. With an overenthusiastic grunt, four personified sperm emerge through it out onto stage and perform an opening number to the tune of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’, before being given the rules of the world by the vagina itself (Cassidy Kemp-Woffenden), in a very Little Shop of Horrors-esque moment.

We’re off to the races – quite literally – as these four sperm (Sarah Penny, Thomas Jay Smith, Paris Tuimaseve-Fox and Waikamania Seve) are trying to beat each other to the egg at the end of the road. They’re all distinct in their personalities, Tuimaseve-Fox’s Spermalina especially gets a massive chuckle out of me. Quite soon after the beginning of the show, one sperm is revealed to be the reincarnation of a certain despotic German political figure – which is definitely a choice.

Through three vignettes we follow these entrepreneurial sperm on their epic quest while said reincarnation tries to stymie their journey. First up is Ashley Harnett’s Sir Vicks (say it out loud, you’ll get it) who’s giving fabulous Bayonetta/office siren energy, and invites the sperm to prove their worth before she lets them through. Another excellently choreographed musical number (Kimiora Honeycombe) alongside a murderjoins the fray, and thus the chaos continues.

Next, an encounter with Logan Pocock’s Conny the Dom (an abandoned condom). This character is a lot, and I really can’t describe him more than that; but once again, portrayed excellently and a whole lot of fun.

Then finally, we come to the Yeast Infection (Sugar Rea-Bruce), a marvellously French baker, with an added flirtatious surprise. A certain reincarnation makes himself known in the third act, and the show culminates with a fight sequence, and a big musical number to top things off.

Running Wet Through a Tunnel is conceptually very big, and has a lot of moving parts that are executed solidly well. Major kudos to the director, Izzie Newton-Cross, for doing a lot with what’s here – it’s great directing that really utilises the physical comedy strengths of the cast.

The script is hilarious and decently well-written (by Izzie Newton-Cross), but does at times come off as underbaked.

The show itself runs at just over forty minutes, which isn’t quite enough time for narratives to fully develop; most character interactions feel as though they’re plot points solely driving towards a goal, and thus the eventual emotional climax (heh) at the end of the show doesn’t feel all that earned.

If this piece were to be remounted, it would benefit from being longer, 50-55 minutes maybe, and allow us to actually find our way in the shoes of the focal character. It’s hard to reconcile the narrative’s earlier slo-mo fighting and hilarity with the end of the work, which is mostly on a downbeat and much more sincere.

As it stands, a definitive structure is missing from the work. Instead of a defined journey, it’s a series of vignettes, which can work perfectly well in a show but doesn’t quite work here when an overall journey is implied in both the title and the scenario of the show. Utter randomness works sometimes but it doesn’t feel all that useful during parts of this piece.

Then again, perhaps I’m being too granular reviewing a show about sperm.

Running Wet Through a Tunnel is very funny, very bold and quite blue. There’s a lot to love about it; with great physical comedy, fun musical moments and a deep sense of play, but it would welcome a rewrite to truly find the heart within.

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