It is no secret that our current society is in a cost-of-living crisis, but the creative minds at Hidden Track Theatre have come up with the farcical, yet extremely informative show, The Cost of Everything, to challenge the reasons behind the cost-of-living crisis and educate their audiences through a light-hearted comedic lens.

The concept of this show is an interactive performance/gameshow that aims to build a new model city. Audience members can either access the show through an online livestream or watch in-person in the theatre space. No matter where they are, all audience members are very much involved in the progression of the production; Online viewers are the remote workers of the model city and are able to vote for various aspects of the show on a live chat feed on the stream, and the in-house audience are key workers, who can volunteer themselves for “work opportunities” and get really hands-on with the interactive element of the production during the games. Upon arrival, in-house audience members are given a bag of “things” to share with their households (whoever they attend the show with or are their own household as an individual) and must complete jobs to gain new things, and maybe even sacrifice some things due to the ever-changing events of the show/society. However, if desired, audiences are able to opt out of the interactive elements of the production by obtaining a “No, Thank You” card on entry and displaying it when necessary.

Written by Elliot Hughes and directed by Anoushka Bonwick, The Cost of Everything has been carefully crafted with ingenuity to create a piece of interactive theatre that is genuinely equal parts informative, surprising and hilarious. Writer Hughes stars in the show himself alongside Steph Reynolds and Janelle Thompson, and together the trio thoroughly entertain and engage their audience members, ensuring they don’t neglect their “remote worker” audience members by having various cameras set up, including a phone camera to capture elements of the show up close where live audience members are onstage actively building parts of the model city.

Set and prop design for the production comes from the mind of Rachel Shore and creates a vibrant and quirky atmosphere for the “city model”, with a colourful abstract floor design, a city scape of silhouetted buildings and unusual items for audience members to build new structures from. Shore is also responsible for costume design to positively add to the silliness of characters played by Hughes, Reynolds & Thompson – which include members of “The Church of the Free Market” and “The Pirate Co-operative”.

Throughout the performance, real stats about the cost-of-living crisis are presented by the performers and displayed on a projected screen. However, the production is self-aware that the statistical information sections of the performance are at risk of being on the more boring side, and so to counteract this, the performers find unique and interesting methods of delivery, some of which are voted for by the online audience members.

A quirky, unique and highly entertaining show, The Cost of Everything is an ingenious interactive show from the creative minds at Hidden Track Theatre that will leave audiences in stitches and more informed on the challenges we face in our modern world, and potentially questioning what they themselves can do to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Jess Dalloway

The Cost of Everything plays at The Lowry in Salford until 22 September before continuing its tour. Further information can be found here.