Review: The Land that Never Was (Tron Theatre)

Truth, Lies, and PowerPoint Slides

Several years ago, when I was planning a girls' trip, I came across something called “Bullshit London”, a tour in which everything would be completely inaccurate. “What larks!” I thought. But at an hour and a half, would the novelty hold up? And do I really want to begin a journey knowing I will likely learn nothing from it? The same can be asked of Liam Rees and his show The Land that Never Was, telling the story of the real-life colonialist and conman Gregor MacGregor, who discovered, ruled, and sold the South American country of Poyais – which never really existed.

Rees tells us he used to be a travel guide, and that when he grew tired of ignorant tourists he started experimenting with how much they would believe. His bouncy, customer-friendly persona is on full display in the performance; he draws us in and puts a smile on our faces even though we can see it is all a bit manufactured. The performance is part theatre, part TED talk – a reliable formula, but Rees puts a twist on it when he and his slides start to work against each other. While he rambles about MacGregor’s exploits and mixes them with his own experiences, the PowerPoint slides behind him traitorously predict his next moves, reveal his storytelling tricks, and call out his lies.

Photo Credit: Mihaela Bodlovic

And there are a lot of lies. Just as MacGregor lied to the world, and Rees the tour guide lies to his tourists, so too does Rees the theatre-maker lie to his audience. He hopes to play with our expectations and trust, but early on he crosses a line that makes the whole performance hard to believe. He tells us, quite vulnerably, about the difficulty of writing his father's obituary – only for the slide behind him to tell us he is, in fact, still alive. After that, no matter how much Rees demonstrates his vast research on the topic, it becomes hard to appreciate anything he tells us as either astonishing facts or well-crafted fiction. Eventually, Rees tells us an anecdote about MacGregor and an influential nobleman, and we are told it is up to us to decide if we believe it. But so convenient is the story, and so unreliable is our narrator, that Rees's attempt at ambiguity is transparent.

There’s taking a true story with a pinch of salt, and then there’s dousing it in so much sodium you can’t taste anything else. The concept of The Land that Never Was appeals to audiences with an interest in colonialism, who want to be entertained but also want to know more about this fraudster Gregor MacGregor. Even though playing with the truth is thematically relevant, and Rees himself is exceptionally likeable, the performance leaves you wanting. Three stars.

Whispers from the crowd: "I did enjoy it, it makes you question everything. I don't even trust his wikipedia article!"

The Land that Never Was has completed its run at the Tron Theatre